Originally Published MX November/December
2001

BUSINESS PLANNING
& TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT

On the Asian
Front

For medtech
manufacturers, the key to exploiting business opportunities in Asia is an understanding
of cultural differences.

Ames Gross and
Shawna Lepage

Asia offers U.S.
medical device companies an attractive market that should not be ignored, for
several reasons. First, Asia’s population of 3.5 billion people represents
about 60% of the world total. In addition, Asia is becoming increasingly wealthy.
Average economic growth rates through the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s have been
in the neighborhood of 10% for most Asian countries. Per capita incomes in Hong
Kong and Singapore match those in the United States.

A Stryker Corp. session in Japan, at the company’s newly opened training center.

The Asian market
is huge and growing. In contrast to the 3.5 billion in the East, only 310 million
people live in North America; that amounts to 5% of the world’s population.
The European markets are big but not, even cumulatively, in Asia’s league.
Moreover, while they are fairly wealthy, they are also mature, with little room