Competitors Take Aim At Intuitive Surgical | Summary and Q&A

TL;DR

Intuitive Surgical is the market leader in robotic surgery, but faces potential competition from companies like TransEnterix and Verb Surgical.

Key Insights

• 🤕 Intuitive Surgical has established itself as the market leader in robotic surgery with a large number of da Vinci systems installed worldwide.
• ❓ Robotic surgery offers significant revenue opportunities through the sale of systems and recurring instrument replacements.
• 🤕 Upstart companies like TransEnterix and Verb Surgical are working on competitive alternatives to Intuitive Surgical's da Vinci system.
• 💗 The market for robotic surgery is expected to grow exponentially over the next decade or two.
• ☠️ Procedure volume in robotic surgery is increasing at a rate of 12-14% per year.
• ⌛ Intuitive Surgical's target market could be more than four times larger in the future, indicating significant growth potential.
• 🍉 However, the presence of competitors suggests that Intuitive Surgical's dominance may not be guaranteed in the long term.

Transcript

Kristine Harjes: Who else is in the space? Does Intuitive have it to itself? Todd Campbell: They are absolutely the market share leader, they're the Goliath out there. There's some upstarts, we'll talk about them in a second, who want to hone in on their territory. But they've been groundbreaking and controlling this market for the last 16 years. T... Read More

Questions & Answers

Q: Who is the market leader in robotic surgery?

Intuitive Surgical is the market leader, with 3,600 da Vinci systems installed globally.

Q: What is the potential threat to Intuitive Surgical's dominance?

TransEnterix is an upstart company developing the SurgiBot, a lower-cost alternative to the da Vinci system with potential advantages for doctors. Verb Surgical, a collaboration between Johnson & Johnson and Google, is also aiming to create a competitive product.

Q: How does Intuitive Surgical generate revenue?

Intuitive Surgical sells da Vinci systems and also receives recurring revenue from replacing instruments used in procedures. This "razor-and-blade" model accounts for 70% of their sales.

Q: Is the robotic surgery market winner-take-all?

No, the robotic surgery market is not winner-take-all. Procedure volume is growing rapidly, and Intuitive Surgical believes their target market could be four times larger than it is today. There is room for multiple players.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Intuitive Surgical is the dominant player in the robotic surgery market, with 3,600 da Vinci systems installed worldwide.

• Robotic surgery offers recurring revenue streams for companies like Intuitive Surgical, as instruments need to be replaced after each procedure.

• Upstart companies like TransEnterix and the Johnson & Johnson-Google collaboration Verb Surgical could potentially threaten Intuitive Surgical's market dominance.