PRESS RELEASE
GE HEALTHCARE ACHIEVES #1 WORLDWIDE MARKET SHARE POSITION IN COMPACT
ULTRASOUND INDUSTRY IN 2006
Launch of New Laptop-Size Ultrasound Systems Fuel Growth for GE;
Company Becomes
World's Top Compact Ultrasound Provider with Sales of $174 Million in
2006
WAUKESHA, WIS., MARCH 26, 2007 - GE Healthcare became the world market
share leader in the compact ultrasound industry in 2006, as cited in a
recent industry report issued by Klein Biomedical Consultants, an
internationally recognized source of ultrasound market and trends. GE
was the market leader with a 43 percent share, according to the report.
GE announced today the company's global Compact Ultrasound business
grew sales to $174 million in 2006, which represents 74 percent growth
compared to the prior year. This growth surpasses the 41 percent
worldwide market growth for the compact ultrasound industry in 2006, as
cited in the Klein report.
Harvey Klein, president of Klein Biomedical, stated in the report, "GE
is expected to move up into the undisputed worldwide market leadership
position in the year 2007 and should remain in this position through
the end of the forecast period (2009)." GE culminated its performance
in 2006 with worldwide compact ultrasound revenue for the fourth
quarter of $67.8 million. GE's fourth quarter revenue was significantly
higher than competitors in this compact ultrasound arena.
"Our success with compact ultrasound is a testament to GE's ability to
invest in gamechanging, disruptive technologies that continue to
generate organic growth," said GE Chairman and CEO Jeffrey R. Immelt.
"Our engineering research across ultrasound product lines can continue
to bring rapid innovation. I am proud of GE's commitment to investing
in technologies that help change the way healthcare is delivered to
patients." "Moving into the number one position and leading the way
globally shows our commitment to growing compact ultrasound," said Omar
Ishrak, president and CEO of GE Healthcare's Clinical Systems business
unit. "We cultivated growth by migrating our engineering innovations
across multiple ultrasound platforms and developing specialized sales
teams. Our strategy in customizing ultrasound for specific care areas
is bringing breakthrough technologies to more patients and clinicians
worldwide." Ishrak said, "We expect our sales growth to continue
through 2007. With the full year's benefit of last year's product
launches, our compact ultrasound product portfolio is robust and
continuing to gain strength. More launches are forthcoming, and the
healthcare industry can expect more from GE in the compact ultrasound
arena."
GE attributes its results in large part to its:
* Unique business philosophy in
ultrasound, by customizing its innovative ultrasound systems to four
care areas: radiology, obstetrics and gynecology, cardiology and
emerging clinical uses in the emergency room and operating room.
* Strength in engineering, by sharing
research and development technologies across the care area platforms.
* Global expansion of its sales team and
a broad global footprint.
* Investment in expanding services and
education offerings for hospitals.
Also in 2006, GE's LOGIQ e ultrasound system led all new compact
products industrywide in the U.S. market with revenue of $23 million,
according to the Klein report. The LOGIQ e is geared toward emerging
and growing uses for ultrasound such as assisting physicians in
visualization of patient anatomy for interventional and surgical
procedures, including regional anesthesia, as well as real-time patient
evaluations in emergency settings and sports medicine.
"Ultrasound has set the standard in assisting regional
anesthesia," said Jeffrey Swenson, M.D., professor and director of
anesthesia for the orthopedic center at the University of Utah.
"Because of its detailed visualization of anatomical structures,
especially of the facial planes and nerve bundles, the LOGIQ e offers
superior capability for ultrasoundguided nerve blocks."
"The ease and portability of the LOGIQ e makes it widely applicable,
outside of the operating room, and even makes it possible for
ultrasound-guided procedures in remote areas including regions of the
world with limited medical facilities," Swenson said. Klein also stated
the compact ultrasound market should top $1 billion in the year 2011
for an annual growth rate of 22 percent. According to Ishrak, who has
more than 20 years in ultrasound technology development and has served
as the leader of GE's ultrasound division since 1995, "We will continue
to invest in our sales team, and we expect our sales growth to surpass
global market growth for compact ultrasound."
ABOUT GE HEALTHCARE'S COMPACT SERIES:
In 2006, GE introduced its new Compact Series of ultrasound products --
five cuttingedge ultrasound systems designed to address healthcare
providers' growing demand for sophisticated, real-time imaging at the
point of care. GE's Compact Series places the power and imaging
capabilities of a high-performance, 400-pound ultrasound console system
into a laptop-size design. The portable nature of laptop-size
ultrasound systems enables physicians and clinicians to perform
diagnoses on patients at the bedside. GE's Compact Series of ultrasound
systems includes:
* Voluson i, offering the world's first
real-time, 4-D imaging capabilities in a compact design for patients in
obstetrics and gynecology.
* LOGIQ i, providing premium imaging for
general patient imaging needs in radiology, as well as musculoskeletal,
neonatal, breast and vascular imaging.
* LOGIQ e, uniquely designed with the
speed and diagnostic image quality to support real-time clinical
decisions in emergency and surgical settings.
* Vivid i enhances the efficiency and
reach of physicians by offering the functionality and high performance
of full-featured, larger-scale cardiovascular systems - but in a
portable and wireless design that weighs 30 times less. In 2006, the
Vivid i added a host of new features and enhancements including, stress
echo, tissue velocity imaging, IMT measurements and Tissue Tracking.
* Vivid e provides a dedicated cardiac
ultrasound imaging solution for the physician office in a practical,
easy to use design. Each "i" product is designed to bring specialized,
console-quality imaging performance and portability to traditional
applications. GE's Compact Series "e" products focus on expanding
ultrasound's reach to new clinical areas.
ABOUT GE HEALTHCARE'S ULTRASOUND BUSINESS:
GE Healthcare is the world's leading provider of ultrasound systems,
information technologies and service solutions. Each year, healthcare
providers rely on GE's LOGIQ, Vivid and Voluson ultrasound systems to
perform more than 30 million patient exams worldwide. GE applies more
than 25 years of experience and a commitment to advancing ultrasound's
role in patient care. For more information, please visit our Web site
at www.gehealthcare.com/ultrasound.
ABOUT GE HEALTHCARE:
GE Healthcare provides transformational medical technologies and
services that are shaping a new age of patient care. Our expertise in
medical imaging and information technologies, medical diagnostics,
patient monitoring systems, performance improvement, drug discovery,
and biopharmaceutical manufacturing technologies is helping clinicians
around the world re-imagine new ways to predict, diagnose, inform,
treat and monitor disease, so patients can live their lives to the
fullest. GE Healthcare's broad range of products and services enable
healthcare providers to better diagnose and treat cancer, heart
disease, neurological diseases and other conditions earlier. Our vision
for the future is to enable a new "early health" model of care focused
on earlier diagnosis, pre-symptomatic disease detection and disease
prevention. Headquartered in the United Kingdom, GE Healthcare is a $17
billion unit of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE). Worldwide, GE
Healthcare employs more than 46,000 people committed to serving
healthcare professionals and their patients in more than 100 countries.
For more information about GE Healthcare, visit our website at
www.gehealthcare.com.
Media Contact:
GE Healthcare
Carrie Michael
T: 414-721-2631
C: 262-501-2909
carrie.michael@ge.com