Following the announcement by Phillips to invest $109m to increase the production of ventilators, patient monitors and diagnostic imaging in order to meet the COVID-19 demand;

Aliyah Farouk, Medical Device Analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers her view:

“GlobalData expects Philips’ investment in devices central to the treatment of COVID-19 to result in increased revenue for the company by the second half of the year. Philips is a strong player in the ventilators and diagnostic imaging markets but faces fierce competition from larger manufacturers. However, with orders for these devices growing by 23%, Philips is poised to exhibit a stronger share in these markets, making up for losses in other business sectors negatively affected by COVID-19.

“As the pandemic has developed, the shortage of equipment such as ventilators has been a global concern with increased demand and major disruptions in the supply chain. To address the inherent need, Philips doubled the production of ventilators in addition to increasing the number of its manufacturing employees. The further investment in the connected care and diagnosis and treatment businesses is therefore a good move for the company as other large manufacturers have chosen to collaborate to ramp up the production of these vital devices.”