While Intuitive Surgical holds the largest share of the general surgery robotics market, the orthopedic market is more crowded, with manufacturers including Stryker Mako, Zimmer Biomet ROSA RECON, DePuy Synthes VELYS, and Smith & Nephew CORI all battling for dominance, says GlobalData. The leading data and analytics company notes that this has resulted in a price drop of 3.3% for orthopedic robotics products from 2021 to 2022.

Orthopedic robotics aid in various procedures such as partial knee replacement, total knee replacement and total hip replacement, to ultimately help surgeons perform procedures more consistently and accurately than with manual techniques. According to analysis from GlobalData’s Medical Intelligence Center, the orthopedic robotics market was valued at $936 million globally in 2021, and will reach $2.2 billion in 2030, at a robust compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.1%.

The capital expense of orthopedic robots is tremendous, with the companies’ average selling prices (ASPs) for their systems ranging from $480,000 to over $1.1 million in the US. Service and support costs for orthopedic robots also vary depending on system configuration such as carts and robotic arms. The ASP of market leader, Mako, has declined around 9% from 2021 to 2022 due to intensive competition in the market.

Tina Deng, MSc, Principal Medical Devices Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Price-setting determines a product’s profit margin, as well as the ease in making sales or the difficulty in gaining adoption in the highly competitive market. For instance, the share of DePuy Synthes’ VELYS has increased greatly in the past year, from less than 10% to over 20% in 2022. This could be due to its affordable pricing, as the product is more budget-friendly compared with other brands. In order to keep competitive advantage, major players have to offer additional discounts.”

Nonclinical factors such as marketing purposes can also greatly contribute to the decision of adopting a new orthopedic robot. Therefore, lower pricing may be effective enough in persuading surgeons to move away from leading brands.