Development status and trend analysis of medical and aesthetic instrument industry in China
Data show that in 2021, the market size of China’s medical aesthetic device industry is 54.37 billion yuan, and it is expected that the market size of China’s medical aesthetic device industry will reach 77.48 billion yuan in 2023 and is expected to reach a scale of 100 million yuan in 2025.
China takes the lead in injection products
But photoelectric field market share is still low
From 2002 to 2012, Chinese enterprises made breakthroughs in the field of injection medical devices and prosthesis fillers and quickly occupied the global market, but their competitiveness in the field of optoelectronic medical devices was weak. Around 2020, in the face of the explosive growth of the medical beauty market, Chinese medical beauty device enterprises have intensified their research and development efforts, and their product strength has been continuously improved. Large medical device and pharmaceutical enterprises such as Hudong Medicine and Haohai Biological Technology have acquired leading overseas medical beauty device companies, and the technical strength and market share of Chinese medical beauty device companies have been continuously improved.
Development status: Chinese medical beauty equipment in the supply side
and the demand side market shows rapid development
The downstream market is flourishing, which brings about a large number of purchasing demands
In 2020, the market size of compliance medical beauty services in China was 168.241 billion yuan respectively, with a compound growth rate of 20.53% in the past five years.
Non-surgical medical beauty projects are most favored by consumers, driving the rapid growth of the market scale of optoelectronic and injection medical beauty instruments.
Compared to other regions, Chinese consumers are more enthusiastic about non- surgical medical and aesthetic projects. In 2002, the number of medical aesthetic treatments in China was approximately 14 million, with non-surgical projects accounting for over 85% of the total.
Domestic manufacturers are gradually breaking the technological barriers through mergers and acquisitions and independent research and development, and their market share is increasing
After 2016, the concentration of the global medical aesthetic devices market showed a trend of gradual increase. The leading enterprises of photoelectric medical aesthetic devices were integrated by international capital, and the market shares of injection medical aesthetic devices concentrated to leading enterprises. Domestic enterprises entered the market through self-research and mergers and acquisitions, and gradually became a comprehensive medical beauty equipment company with rich product lines.
Market size:
The market size of the medical and aesthetic device industry is growing steadily
From 2016 to 2020, the market size of China’s compliant medical beauty devices increased from 4.75 billion yuan to 8.18 billion yuan, showing a steady growth trend. From 2021-2025, photoelectric medical and aesthetic devices were successively approved for listing, and driven by the rapid growth in the market size of new injection products such as teenage needles and child beauty needles, the medical and aesthetic device market returned to the growth zone. It is expected that the market size of China’s medical and aesthetic devices will increase to 15.33 billion yuan by 2025
Industry segmentation analysis
— Injectable products
Injection medical aesthetic instruments is the largest subdivision of medical aesthetic instruments
From 2016 to 2020, driven by the increasing popularity of “light medical beauty” project, injection medical beauty project is the largest medical beauty sub-industry with the market scale growing from 2.5 billion yuan to 4.7 billion yuan. It is expected that in 2025, the market scale of injection medical beauty devices will reach 9.7 billion yuan, with a compound annual growth rate of 19.9%. New medical beauty devices approved around 2020, such as “girl needle” and “child beauty needle”, will steadily increase their market share.
The price of injection products in compliance institutions showed a downward trend, but the gross profit margin is still over 50%
According to Yidu Data’s survey, the average price per injection surgery in compliance chain medical and beauty institutions showed a downward trend from 2017 to 2020, with the average charge per surgery dropping from 3,000-3,500 yuan to 1,500-2,500 yuan. In injection medical beauty projects, the gross profit rate of hyaluronic acid products is usually 40%-55%, while the gross profit rate of water needle and child makeup needle is higher, usually higher than 60%.
The localization of injection medical instruments is the future development trend
General consumers are more willing to pay a premium for overseas brand products. Domestic brands such as Bloomage Biotech provide highly cost-effective products for consumers at the price range of 500-1000. Therefore, the price of domestic injection medical equipment brands is lower than that of imported products. However, leading companies in the industry such as Imeik, Bloomage Biotech and Huadong Medicine continue to improve their market share and product reputation through the expansion of product lines.
Industry segmentation analysis
— photoelectric instruments
Product shortages and large price differences contribute to a huge market for counterfeit products and smuggled products for photoelectric medical devices
The sales of imported optoelectronic medical beauty equipment in China usually adopt the agent mode. Overseas companies obtain NMPA certification through the agent sales company, marketing network construction and a series of necessary prerequisites for sales. Agents have a strong position in the industrial chain. For the medical and beauty equipment and beauty instruments required by popular projects, even if small and medium-sized institutions have sufficient payment ability, it is usually difficult to obtain authentic equipment in the initial stage of the product entering the market. Smuggled products have become an important choice for small and medium-sized institutions. Counterfeit devices often cost less than a twentieth of the price of the real thing, making them an important choice for small, unlicensed outfits driven by unregulated coverage and profiteers. According to incomplete statistics, the penetration rate of counterfeit equipment and pirated equipment in licensed medical and aesthetic institutions exceeds 30%, and in all institutions in the entire medical and aesthetic market, the penetration rate exceeds 60%.
A large number of popular items in the medical beauty service market exist smuggledl channel equipment
The approval time of overseas products in the Chinese market is usually later than that in the overseas market, so in the initial stage of entering the Chinese market, they usually enter through the smuggled goods channel. Take Thermage 5 generation products as an example. As the hottest photoelectric medical beauty project in the field of medical beauty in 2020, NMPA has not approved the product to be used as medical beauty equipment in mainland China. Therefore, “Hot Thermage 5 generation products” are in short supply in the Chinese market, and most authentic equipment can only be imported into the Chinese market in the form of smuggled products. In case of product shortage, large chain institutions can purchase Thermage 5 generation equipment through leasing mode and provide relevant services to consumers, but for small medical and beauty institutions, even smuggled products are difficult to buy. But a large number of medical and beauty agencies claim to be able to provide Hot Thermage -5 products and services, but in fact use copycat products to provide services for consumers.
Industry segmentation analysis
— Radiofrequency medical beauty instruments
Only 21 kinds of radio-frequency medical beauty devices have passed the NMPA certification, and imported devices occupy the main market
There are more than 200 types of devices known as “radio-frequency medical beauty devices” available to consumers at licensed/unlicensed medical beauty facilities. However, most of these devices are ” copycat devices” with no significant efficacy. Only about 30 devices have been certified locally in Europe, the United States, Japan or South Korea. By October 2021, there are 21 types of radio-frequency medical beauty devices certified by NMPA, and only two types of radio-frequency medical beauty devices independently developed in China are Wuhan Zonkelaser and Deji medical devices.
Star projects have an obvious driving force on the sales of medical devices, and the leading enterprises have the strongest profitability
The downstream application field of radio-frequency medical beauty instruments is mainly anti-aging products, and the number of treatment operations accounts for more than 40%. Rf projects are driven by Solta and other industry companies, which occupy a major market share. Leading companies launch a new generation of products every 4-6 years. Most enterprises are following the strategy, and their products will be listed in the market within 2-4 years after the leading foreign brand products are listed, and they will get a certain share of the middle and low-end market.
Rapid growth in RF medical device market size, driven by star projects such as Thermage
Radiofrequency medical beauty devices were first used in 2002. Since 2015, overseas mainstream brands of radiofrequency medical beauty equipment have successively passed the approval of NMPA (former CFDA) and become the most concerned field in the medical beauty market with “skin rejuvenation”. From 2016 to 2019, the market size of radiofrequency medical beauty equipment compliance increased from 280 million yuan to 460 million yuan, with an annual compound growth rate of 17.1%. From 2020 to 2021, Sales of the fifth generation of Thermage products that have not been approved by NMPA have maintained rapid growth. It is expected that the market size will still grow at a high rate in the next two years.
After the introduction of radio-frequency medical beauty devices, the Chinese market usually experiences a growth cycle of 5-6 years, and the time of approval to be put on the market lags behind the market demand
In the past, the popular radio-frequency projects in China’s medico-aesthetic market were all products of overseas companies, so the approval time in China often lagged behind the launch time of the products overseas. The new technology brought by new products is of great appeal to medical beauty institutions and consumers. Therefore, before the official launch of star products in China, they will be widely promoted by domestic non-licensed medical beauty institutions and quickly seize many market shares. However, when the market demand is greatly stimulated, the supply of the product is usually small due to the reasons such as the product has not been approved for market, so the sales volume and purchase price of this kind of equipment will rise in the short term and stimulate the generation of smuggled products and copycat products.
In the next few years, the growth of the market size of radio-frequency medical beauty equipment will be greatly influenced by ultrasonic knife products, children’s makeup needle and home beauty instrument products
To sum up:
China’s medical beauty device market has a promising prospect
Since 2016, the national government has continuously introduced medical encouragement policies related to “artificial intelligence +”, which has promoted the process of artificial intelligence in the medical device field, including the medical beauty device field. For example, the Outline of the Healthy China 2030 Plan and other policies clearly support the research and development of medical and health-related artificial intelligence technologies and improve the digital and intelligent manufacturing level of medical and health equipment.
China is encouraging China end uses for more domestic products in latest years. Thus, more and more overseas manufacturers are planning localization in China. BradyKnows localization team has extensive experiences in facility establishment, audit, supplier evaluation, manufacturing, registration, and marketing in China. Pls feel free to let us know any questions on China entry via info@bradyknowsmedical.com
Source：Imaac Ziyalan ，Osmunda
Translated & edited： Bradyknows
