Gary Benitez, President of Crown Medical International in Beechhurst, NY, says his business was up 30 percent in 2007, but he is anticipating that business may be slightly lower in 2008, due to the C-arm shortage. Crown carries all popular C-arm parts and carries a 12-month warranty on its C-arm equipment depending on the customer's budget.

Benitez notes that the FDA's shut down of GE's C-arm division was great for the re-marketers' business. On the other hand, it is his understanding that GE/OEC will start to rollout the new 9900s in the spring of 2008. "Along with the boom, the OEC dilemma has also created a shortage of used equipment coming into the market," states Benitez.

Leon Gugel, President, Metropolis International, Long Island City, NY, feels that the C-arm business was down overall in 2007 because of the shutdown of GE/OEC. "Because OEC had the largest market share - and still have large and loyal following - they naturally got the majority of the trade-in systems . But when deliveries stopped, the trade-ins stopped, and that hurt everyone." says Gugel. He comments that Philips, Ziehm and Philips picked up some of the slack, but their trade-ins were far less numerous than OEC's. Gugel thinks that the outlook for 2008 looks busy from the second quarter on. He believes that when OEC goes back in business, though C-arm prices will fall into the basement, it should open the door to many more clinics and private surgery centers to acquire pre-owned systems at lower rates and open the doors for third world nations to buy newer machines.

North American Medical, Sweet Springs, MO, sells pre-owned medical equipment, including C-arms from GE/OEC and Philips. "My company is a medical equipment liquidator," says President Mitchell Guier, "we're always looking for quality used medical equipment to sell." He noted that business was okay in 2007, but he expects it will pick up in 2008 when OEC starts delivering their new systems, and there will more used units on the market for third parties like his company.


More projections for 2008

Mike Jackson, President of Combined Imaging Associates, Cottontown, TN, feels that because of economic factors, the demand fluctuates and "2008 looks down a bit." Combined Imaging Associates sells GE/OEC in all regions.

Scott Townsend, President of Townsend Surgical, LCC, Knoxville, TN, sells GE/OEC, Philips and Hologic C-arms. He expects a downturn in the economy, but says that will actually increase used equipment sales, and sees third-party service providers prospering.

Columbia Imaging, Inc., Columbia, MD, sells Siemens and GE/OEC C-arms in the mid-Atlantic region. President Wayne Horsman notes that the company's warranty for C-arms depends and is adapted to customers' need, but the average is six months. He feels that only the strong will survive. "ISOs need to provide quality and value in order to compete with the multi-nationals," says Horsman.

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