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ConMed’s history began in 1970, when they were first established by Eugene Corasanti in Utica, New York as Consolidated Medical Equipment, Inc. Today, it is a leading global medical technology company in the United States. The business operates in a range of categories, including: arthroscopy, sports medicine, gastrointestinal, laparoscopy and the operating room equipment market.

Arthroscopy focuses on arthroscopic devices including arthroscopes, disposable cannulas, hand instruments, fluid management disposables, shaver blades, radiofrequency (RF) probes, drill guide systems and disposables and suture passers.

Sports Medicine entails providing technology that facilitates minimally invasive joint surgery (e.g. knee, shoulder and hip).

The Gastrointestinal group focuses on stenting and dilation devices, ECRP devices, and biopsy forceps, polypectomy snare and needle market.

Laparoscopy market is comprised of the laparoscopes, hand instruments, insufflation devices, suction-irrigation devices, and direct energy devices.

The Operating Room Equipment segment focuses on digital documentation, monitors, imaging systems, and camera systems.

Top 3 ConMed Competitors in the Arthroscopy Market

• Smith & Nephew
• Arthrex
• Stryker

Smith & Nephew is the leading competitor in the total arthroscopy market. The company was present in all segments, but had the strongest showing in the high-value RF probe segment. Smith & Nephew’s position in the bipolar RF probe market increased substantially in 2014 when it completed the acquisition of ArthroCare for an estimated $1.5 billion. Prior to the acquisition, ArthroCare was the leading competitor in the bipolar RF probe segment, capturing over 50% of the segment in 2013.

Smith & Nephew’s RF probe portfolio includes the DYONICS™, SAPHYRE®, SCULPTOR®, TAC®, WEREWOLF® and AMBIENT® brands. Smith & Nephew also had a strong presence in the power instrument and shaver blade segment, capturing about 30% of the segment in 2016. Smith & Nephew offers a wide range of shaver blades. The company’s Dyonics® brand contributed significantly to its leading position. The Window Lock feature on Smith & Nephew’s Bonecutter® product line has received positive reviews from surgeons. The Window Lock feature can be used to open or close the resector to increase suction or contact as needed.

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Top 3 ConMed Competitors in the Sports Medicine Market

• Arthrex
• Smith & Nephew
• DePuy Mitek

Currently, Arthrex is leading the orthopedic soft tissue repair market. Arthrex has maintained their position as market leader by establishing their presence in the shoulder market while continuing to grow their presence in the knee and hip arthroscopy markets.The company was able to offer metal, polylactic acid (PLA) resorbable, biocomposite and polyetheretherketon (PEEK) versions of all of their sports medicine devices. Arthrex had an inital competitive advantage by being the only company to offer knotless biocomposite suture anchors. Arthrex won a patent lawsuit against DePuy Mitek in September 2009 confirming that DePuy’s SlingShot® cross pin system infringed on Arthrex’s TransFix™ ACL repair system.

Smith & Nephew is the second leading competitor in the U.S. orthopedic soft tissue repair market. Smith & Nephew has a wide coverage of products across the shoulder, knee and hip segments. Smith & Nephew has a limited presence in the shoulder market but is a leader in some knee segments and the hip arthroscopy market. For the shoulder market, Smith & Nephew has a number of suture anchors like their BIORAPTOR™, OSTEORAPTOR™, HEALICOIL™, SPEEDLOCK™, SUTUREFIX™ and Q-FIX™. For the knee arthroscopy market, Smith & Nephew has some shares in ACL/PCL fixation and is a leader in meniscal repair. For fixation, Smith & Nephew has a presence in the cortical fixation and interference screw segments which are the larger segments in that market. Smith & Nephew has their Endobutton™, Xtendobutton™ and Ultrabutton™ for cortical fixation and their Biosure™ interference screws which are available in PEEK and biocomposite.

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Top 3 ConMed Competitors in the Gastrointestinal Market

• Boston Scientific
• Olympus
• Cardinal Health

The leading competitor in the GI endoscopic device market is Boston Scientific. The company holds the leading position in all markets where it was active, with the exception of the specimen retrieval and foreign-body removal device market and the enteral feeding market. Boston Scientific has experienced significant growth in the biliary and pancreatic stent market since launching the AXIOS™ lumen-apposing covered-metal stent.

Olympus was the second-leading competitor, with approximately 23% of the total market share. The company’s position in the overall market is heavily weighted to its dominant position in the GI endoscope market. Olympus has been a competitor in the GI endoscopic device market since the 1950s, when they developed the Gastrocamera™. The company has an extensive network of distributors and a far-reaching sales force. Olympus is known for the high quality of their products and the technological innovation that they introduce to the market. This allows the company to retain its market share and capture a large percentage of any developing endoscope markets.

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Top 3 ConMed Competitors in the Laparoscopic Market

• Medtronic
• Ethicon
• Olympus

Medtronic is the leading competitor in the U.S. laparoscopic devices market. The company led the direct energy and closure device segments, and also competed in the access device, hand instrument, insufflation and ultrasonic device segments. In every market Medtronic was involved with, other than the ultrasonic device segment, they competed neck and neck with Ethicon. Sales of Medtronic’s LigaSure™ devices allowed the company to gain a commanding position in the direct energy device segment. Medtronic is working to enhance growth in their laparoscopic product sales through research and development and through further acquisitions. The company’s acquisition of Valleylab greatly expanded their product range. Medtronic is also actively building customer relations through value-added services and developing its new generation of environmentally friendly products.

The second leading competitor in the U.S. market for laparoscopic devices was Ethicon. This company relies on their well-known reputation for high-quality products, especially in the ultrasonic and access device markets. Ethicon generally prices its products above the market average, avoiding pricing wars altogether. The company led the ultrasonic segments and also competed in the segments for access, hand instrument, insufflation, direct energy, hand-assisted and closure devices, as well as that of gastric bands. A large part of Ethicon’s revenue stems from their HARMONIC® ultrasonic instrument sales, which have led to a monopoly on the reposable segment of the ultrasonic device market for years.

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Top 3 ConMed Competitors in the Operating Room Equipment Market

• Stryker
• Karl Storz
• STERIS

Stryker leads the market for operating room equipment. The company offers products in most segments, and is the market leader in seven of the segments. Their dominance is partly due to the fact that Stryker has been in the business since 1992, meaning that they were first company to enter the integration business, allowing them to amass the largest installed base in the market, with over 11,000 integrated ORs in the U.S. alone. In markets where Stryker does not manufacture its own product, the company offers rebranded OEM products or other companies’ branded products. As a result, Stryker led the markets for OR integration components, surgical camera systems, digital image capture and recording devices, surgical display and PACS monitors, surgical light sources, surgical lighting and surgical booms.

Karl Storz is the second-leading competitor in the video and integrated OR equipment market. They were the second company to enter the business in 1998, which has allowed them to build up the second-largest integrated OR installed base, following Stryker, with over 6,000 ORs in the United States. Karl Storz offers products in many of the same segments as Stryker, and often has slightly lower but similar market shares. In markets where the company does not offer its own products, it has partnerships with other companies, such as NDS Surgical Imaging, STERIS and Skytron, in order to provide comprehensive OR packages. Karl Storz previously lost market share to Stryker, due to its delayed introduction of HD products, which
proved to be significant sources of revenue

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