Panasonic Spin-Off Camera Manufacturer’s Growth Strategy
Medical Vision Strategy
Next, I would like to discuss i-PRO’s medical vision business. Currently, the medical vision business accounts for around 15% of total sales. i-PRO medical-use cameras are incorporated into rigid endoscopes and so on used for abdominal surgery and examination, and have been adopted by many major medical equipment manufacturers. The business is expected to grow even more in the future. Medical camera users have high expectations for aspects such as color reproduction, and their needs differ to those for security cameras. In addition, laws and regulations relating to medical treatment differ between countries, and needs vary by medical specialty, resulting in a more fragmented market than for security cameras.
To date, we have entered into individual agreements with major global medical equipment manufacturers and conducted joint development for medical-use cameras. Because specifications vary between manufacturers, it is necessary to develop based on those respective requirements. Consequently, as with security cameras, we took time to design and develop products, from optics to image processing. In principle, cameras developed with one customer cannot be used by other customers. For that reason, although we possess high-level technologies, during our time with Panasonic we were only able to work in markets controlled by major medical equipment manufacturers and were not able to access diversified long-tail segments.
But at the start of fiscal 2022, this business division also adopted the modular concept, switching to a development policy aimed at swiftly responding to dispersed needs by combining generic modules. Through our experience to date, we have accumulated vast quantities of data in-house related to client needs. We have sufficient knowledge of common needs and of needs that vary by client. Consequently, we can predict the extent to which we can meet diverse needs by developing generic modules. This is another area where we have an advantage over rivals.
By introducing the modular concept that supports our open policy and time-based competition, the medical vision business is now able to make diverse proposals faster than other companies. It represents a switch from a contracted manufacturing model to an OEM model. Based on this, the medical vision business is forecast to double its sales in the next five years.