A New Player in Medical Imaging, Samsung

When you think of the leading providers of diagnostic imaging technology, who is that you think of first? Is it GE? Is it Phillips? Either way it’s a name that you know. It doesn’t matter if you are thinking of a CT scanner, an MRI, or an X-RAY machine, those are the two big boy names. To put it in perspective, Phillips and GE together make up over half of the market in terms of sales per region. In America, Europe, and the BRIC countries, those are the companies that resonate in both new and used equipment sales. The two as manufacturers make constant pushes to establish more direct channels of distribution through the building of plants and push for greater portions of R&D money from governments strengthening their healthcare.

The market always has room for a new competitor provided that the competitor is willing to drop substantial amounts of money in terms of capital. That capital includes investments in research and development as well as acquisitions that are a key to the growth of a company. A company that has, for two years now, been fitting the description of an emerging competitor is Samsung. Yes, the people that make the android, amazing flat screens, and great tablet PCs, now want to look inside our heads.

In 2011 Samsung announced an ambitious plan to drop over 1.1 billion dollars in the medical equipment field. Why does Samsung want to do that? As markets continue to grow and healthcare continues to evolve, Samsung is looking to cash in. There is a long road to haul given the players involved. Phillips, GE, and Siemens will not just yield to Samsung’s wish of becoming the dominant force in imaging. Samsungs plans in terms of numbers are something else. The ultimate goal is to turn Samsung into a nearly 95 billion dollar operation on the healthcare end. To quote Samsung’s Senior VP, Jo Jae Moon “We have a lot of companies on our list, and we’ve been contacting most of them,” Jo said, adding that Samsung targets small, overseas-based firms with niche technology. “We’ll continue to meet them and negotiate. We have a target to be the No. 1 across ultrasound devices, X-rays and MRIs.” referring to Samsung’s strong acquisitions push.