A recent Reuters report confirms what many in the used medical equipment industry already know: OEMs are enjoying robust used equipment sales, as hospitals look to buy refurbished CT and MRI scanners in their scramble to control costs.

The report said for many of these companies what started off as a side project blossomed into a full-fledged business. The story cited a recent Frost & Sullivan global market survey that says the world used imaging market in 2009 was worth $1.5 billion.

That's partly why OEMs are finding that even if new equipment sales are sluggish, the used market is healthy. Siemens Healthcare reported double-digit growth in its refurbished North American market even though new equipment sales were flat, according to the report.
And much of the movement in this sector is in emerging markets. GE Healthcare said it was seeing the greatest expansion in markets like Latin American countries and India. Philips Healthcare, which expects a general 3 to 4 percent growth in the imaging market next year, said Asian countries were becoming keen on used imaging devices.

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