Sonoscape - Growing customers with quality of service
It started with a bright new idea: full colour ultrasound delivered in a portable scanner.
Each year since this first product launch, Sonoscape has continued to introduce new ultrasound systems, expanding its product line and growing sales by double digits. Can this relative newcomer in European ultrasound continue to report such strong performance?
‘It is true that today Europe is becoming a challenging market with new companies and new products arriving each year,’ said Randy Hwan, Sonoscape’s Vice President responsible for European customers. ‘The pressure is now increasing on the low and middle end of the market with so many comparable scanners competing and, in this situation, the pricing of these systems will begin to fall dramatically.
‘When I tell people that soon we’ll see such systems selling for less than €10,000, they are shocked, so I do not tell them I really believe that good quality scanners with good performance will reach a price point of €8,000,’ he added. ‘In this market, where ultrasound systems are forced to commodity pricing, I believe Sonoscape will be able to continue to distinguish itself with it high level of service. I believe that, in this competition, at least on the low-end scanners, European sales will be dominated at some point in the near term by a Chinese company.’
Sonoscape has been able to establish a reputation in a short time for highly reliable ultrasound performance that has won customer confidence, Mr Hwan pointed out.
Built on a robust base of a Linux operating system, Sonoscape is able to respond immediately to customer requirements for service, often with an immediate remote intervention.
The in-house engineering team can also modify designs to meet emerging customer preferences. For example, while the slim profile and reduced footprint of the new high-end performance system, the S20 is attractive for customers in countries such as Spain and Italy. ‘Our German customers prefer a more solid machine with a larger scale, so we will be introducing a new design to meet this need,’ he explained.
The new large-scale design will also have more powerful features. The Sonoscape R1D team is now preparing an elastography function that will be offered across the company’s line of scanners in the mid- to high-end.
The best-selling S8, an extremely powerful hand carried portable ultrasound system has enjoyed a strong uptake in Eastern European countries hospitals, whilst in Western Europe customers tend to be private radiology clinics or individual practitioners.
Randy Hwan: ‘Unlike some of our more aggressive competitors, we design and manufacture our own systems, so I’m highly confident that, in the coming competition, we will be able to maintain a competitive edge.’
28.12.2010
