Sleep apnoea market dominated by Philips Respironics and ResMed

The global sleep apnoea diagnostic market has been forecast to hit a market value of US$8.4 billion by 2018, with the increase set to be fuelled by the by rising awareness of sleep apnoea in both the general population and medical fraternity, and the increased penetration of new devices.

Sleep apnoea is a sleep disorder characterised by abnormal pauses in breathing or instances of abnormally low breathing, during sleep. Each pause in breathing, called an apnoea, can last from at least ten seconds to minutes, and may occur 5 to 30 times or more an hour. Similarly, each abnormally low breathing event is called a hypopnoea. Sleep apnoea is diagnosed with an overnight sleep test called a polysomnogram, or "sleep study".

Factors responsible for the growing incidence of sleep apnoea include obesity and aging. There are around 84 types of sleep disorders presently known, of which Obstructive Sleep apnoea (OSA) is the most frequently occurring type, with about 100 million individuals across the world suffering from OSA. Of this, about 83% of the cases are still undiagnosed.

However, the awareness of the disease condition, and of the co-morbid conditions, among patients and doctors is growing. Against this backdrop, given the large percentage of undiagnosed sufferers, there exist vast prospects for sleep apnoea diagnostic devices.

Broadly divided into diagnostic devices and therapeutics devices, the sleep apnoea market is witnessing intense competition. The market is dominated by Philips Respironics and ResMed, which cumulatively account for 70% of the market. Other prominent players include Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, CareFusion, Natus Medical, DeVilbiss Healthcare, and Weinmann Medical Devices.

One thing notable about the sleep apnoea market is that segment rivalry is high as there are a few well-established firms and several small firms with similar product offerings.

For more information on the sleep apnoea market, see the latest research: Sleep Apnoea Market

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