If you are a contact lens wearer, you need to consider your options. There are several types of contact lenses. They include extended-wear contacts, colored and disposable lenses. Because this is a medical sale, you need to be cautious. To achieve that, you need to arm yourself with basic knowledge about lenses. For instance, what are the market trends? What are the basic types of lenses?
Market trends
Several firms in the world make eye contact lenses. The industry is highly concentrated. About half a dozen contact lenses manufacturer lead the market. For instance, soft lenses make up about 70 percent of the total production of contact lenses.
Secondly, there are different types of lenses produced by manufacturers. Gas-permeable lenses hold up to 15 percent of the market share. PMMA lenses, made of silicone, are manufactured by one firm. CAB lenses, which outsell PMMA, are made by one company too.
Hard lenses have a declining market share. This means that there are several sellers on the market, and only a few are dominant. That said, there is a predominant sale for soft lenses
For older PMMA lenses, the case is way different. Small laboratories characterize this sector. It is thus known as a cottage industry too. Generally, manufacturers operate in a small area. Here, they manufacture lenses using plastic buttons bought from bulk plastic manufacturers.
They also provide tailored services to those who give prescriptions. Several small lenses manufacturers are known as optical labs, and they compete with large manufacturers to produce lenses. The case is inconclusive. But, there is no evidence of the production of large economies of scale.
That said, small manufacturers have gone out of business. They have also suffered major sales declines in the past decade. This is following the shrinkage of the lens market. Apart from that, there is a decline in sales too. Because small firms cannot meet the FDA approval requirements, this is for new lenses. Even so, the segment is still competitive.
Summing up, the three sectors of lenses display various degrees of competition. These differences can be explained by their life cycle. So, the mature lenses sector has been highly competitive for several years.
The soft lens market is transitioning from the youthful phase to a new phase. It is also displaying an increasing entry, an equal market size, and power in large markets. The competitive pricing set by manufacturers increases the demand for soft lenses. One of the newest products is gas-permeable lenses. It has retraced the footprints of the soft lenses. The economic forces of work vow to maintain the similarities.
Then there is the conditional magnitude of barriers to market entry. Some of them include the ones posed by the premarket regulatory measures. About single operational firms in the lenses industry, more adults are forced to wear heavy contact lenses. This is because of their deteriorating eye health.
Final Thoughts
It is Leonardo da Vinci, who created the first model concept of the contact lens. As they say, the rest became history. Today, baby boomers and millennials wear prescripted contact lenses. This is for the correction of their vision.
