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SHOW REVIEW news Continuing acquisition will be a strategy for larger key competitors An interview with Jeff Wong, Strategic Analyst Manager at iData © Kristin Huebner, DTI. (cid:132) The ever-progressing digitalisa- tion, changing regulations and a tendency towards mergers are cur- rently shaping the dental industry. At the International Dental Show (IDS) in Cologne, today international met with Jeff Wong, Strategic Ana- lyst Manager at international medi- cal market research and consulting firm iData, to talk about how—ma- jor and emerging—competitors have reacted to these trends. today international: Digitalisation is one of the main trends that is changing the industry. Other than that, what developments are dom- inating the dental market? Jeff Wong: Yes, digitalisation is still the up-and-coming trend and everybody is trying to get into that market now. On the product side, I would say it is 3-D printing and intraoral scanning. Three or four years ago, there was only a handful AD of competitors in both of those areas. This year at IDS, almost everybody was presenting some new product in these fields—know- ing how fast these markets develop, everybody wants to participate. What consequences will this have for the market in general? Especially in these two areas, where the level of imitation is high, with so many competitors, it will definitely start diluting the market shares among the existing compa- nies. However, if these participants start focusing on specific regions or niche audiences, I think there will still be a great deal of benefit. What about the recent merger trend—is that something we will see more of in the future? From what we have seen in other industries, we definitely pre- dict that the trend will continue. Of 6 37th International Dental Show 2017 course, there will always be a cou- ple of smaller companies that will end up becoming fairly large them- selves and remain independent. However, we expect that many of the successful emerging companies will be acquired at some point. One advantage that the larger competi- tors have is the amount of re- sources they have. They can always stay ahead of the curve. If they see somebody come to the market with something unique, they have the resources to quickly develop a product of their own. What role do the emerging markets play? What regions will become more significant in the future? Regarding digital dentistry, I would say much of the develop- ment is linked to implantology and prosthodontics. The key countries where those areas are big as well are Brazil and Italy. Even though the penetration of digital dentistry might be relatively higher in those areas compared with others, I would say they have the greatest opportunities for growth. What are the main trends in im- plantology? In terms of implants, dozens of new companies are popping up ev- ery year, but many are also either acquired or close down. There are definitely certain regions that are experiencing a great deal of growth, for example many Asian countries. At the same time, tradi- tional markets such as Italy, Brazil and the US are doing very well. These markets are well penetrated at this point, so in terms of market growth it will definitely slow down. However, there is still substantial growth opportunity for the low- er-priced competitors, while the tra- ditional premium brands will see considerable from other markets. competition tors? Or what will their strategy to succeed be? I think the strategy of most of the larger key competitors will be continuing acquisition. However, the strategy of some of the larger regional companies, for example in Brazil, is to continue going and to expand their global presence in- stead of being acquired. In addition, many of the cur- rent key participants—with the re- gional regulations changing from country to country—are being forced to acquire new companies in order to be able to operate in the region. So, you are saying that larger com- panies are looking for smaller businesses to acquire in order to bring new technology to market? Not only on the technology side, but also to compete on the pricing level as well. In the current political climate, the Chairman of the Association of the German Dental Industry has issued a warning about protectionism and trade barriers. What are compa- nies doing in this regard? At this stage, I think, compa- nies are mainly waiting to see what will happen. Nevertheless, in light of what is happening in other in- dustries regarding the whole Brexit issue—for example, European Union chiefs have warned airlines, includ- ing easyJet and Ryanair, to relocate their headquarters to the EU if they wish to continue their routes within continental Europe the Brexit—if that can happen in the airline industry, who is to say it cannot happen in the dental indus- try. Again, for example in Mexico, which has a major dental tourism industry, if that is going to be af- fected in terms of procedural vol- umes, it is definitely going to affect the dental manufacturers as well. after Do you think this will lead to those companies buying local competi- Thank you very much for the inter- view. (cid:26)