Ronald de Jong ?has his eyes and ears open.? As Senior VP and CEO, Global Sales & Service, Emerging Markets, Philips Healthcare, he quite can?t afford not to. The current economic slowdown, he says, has seen Philips Healthcare shift focus from mature markets to the developing world. Sponsoring the ?India Healthcare Forum: Heart Matters ? From Intervention to Prevention? this week was part of the exercise.
That apart, the brand has increased its marketing investment in India by 27% this year. ?We are also considering some acquisition options in India as well as other emerging markets. The know-how and the competence that we thus acquire helps us access the tier II and tier III markets, places we couldn?t reach earlier,? says Jong, responsible for maintaining profitable growth in India, China, Latin America and Russia. Philips Healthcare acquired Meditronics and Alpha X-ray just last year. India, he says, will also be one of the early countries to benefit from the global acquisition of Goldway (a company it acquired in China last year). ?The Goldway Patient Monitoring system will soon be launched in Q4 of this year to complement the other range of patient monitoring products and will help us to drive our expansion in tier II and III markets across India.? Though Jong abstains from making any forward-looking statements he does share that Philips is looking at exporting value products to all mature markets out of its industrial hubs in emerging markets. ?Philips may also soon start exporting healthcare equipments from India to China, maybe even the US.? However, he completely makes Philips? intention of not getting into hardcore pharma clear.
The emerging segment accounts for 30% of Philips Healthcare?s revenues. While Philips is the ?market leader in Brazil and Latin America, amongst other emerging markets, it is China that is growing the fastest.? Jong credits the government?s recent announcement to invest $120 billion in the healthcare sector from 2009-11 for the same.
India and China particularly hold a lot of promise for Philips Healthcare. ?Together the two countries account for 40% of the world?s population. And the growth of world population to nine billion in 2050 will largely take place in these countries. Though the two countries are very much comparable in terms of capacity and cost, they are different in the way they deal with challenges. While nearly 60% of India?s healthcare is privatised, China is largely state-driven.?
Another of Philips? strategic initiave is shifting focus from traditional medical equipments in hospitals to home healthcare. According to a study, about 200 million people in emerging markets have serious respiratory disease ? sleep apnea and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. ?Most of them are still undiagnosed and may further develop into cardio-vascular diseases,? says Jong, concerned. Estimates back his fears, suggesting by 2015 China and India will be the largest cardiac markets in the world ? an opportunity and a challenge that Jong is getting ready for.
