Standing out from the crowd
Vendors of general radiography and fluoroscopy systems are accustomed to intensifying competition, market saturation and the emergence of new market entrants. Amongst such adversities, vendors must focus their strategy beyond transactional sales and one-off system installations. Established vendors are increasing their focus on managed services and fleet service packages to drive operational efficiencies for providers and differentiate from low-cost market competitors. This also enables vendors to establish secure and reliable recurring revenue streams.

Macroeconomic pressures and budgetary constraints are fueling interest in multimodality service deals, as they can be more cost-effective. Newcomers to the X-ray equipment market will face challenges, mostly in developed markets, due to the prevalence of managed service agreements and long-term contracts. The increasing importance of a complete product portfolio, including digital tools and service aspects in such agreements, adds to the challenge.
This poses a significant challenge for Chinese vendors, such as United Imaging, which are determined on global market expansion to displace their competitors in developed and emerging markets. Established vendors are shifting focus from marketing and promoting individual technologies and products to whole product lines and service offerings to strengthen their market position.

United Imaging makes a leap forward
United Imaging had a successful 2022, increasing its DR revenue by 10% and penetrating mature markets such as North America and Western Europe, all whilst quadrupling its DR sales in EEMEA. Such growth is commendable given the Chinese market, easily United Imaging’s largest market for DR systems accounting for over 80% of its sales, declined by 3.4% in 2022.

Other Chinese vendors compete aggressively in the low-end market, with competitive pricing as their primary business strategy for expanding their market presence. As China approaches an equipment update cycle, with many systems now reaching the end of their lifetime and pent-up demand needing fulfilling, Chinese vendors are firmly positioned to capitalise on this opportunity. International expansion focuses on price-sensitive markets such as Eastern Europe, India, Russia, Latin America, and Africa.

Further disruption is also anticipated within the high-end DR market as Chinese vendors increase their R&D expenditure on high-end technology. Established vendors will continue to be challenged in price-sensitive markets by local vendors, especially in India and China, with government initiatives incentivising the purchase of domestically produced systems.

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