The contact lens industry continues to flourish with healthy growth reported in Silicone Hydrogel and colored lens segments in the first half of 2010. According to GfK Asia, the total value of the contact lens industry hit almost USD296 million in five Asian markets—Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Malaysia—registering growth of three percent compared to the second half of 2009, with the average price per piece of contact lens costing approximately USD1.58.
Findings from GfK Asia’s optics retail panel which tracks the performance of contact lens market across the five Asian countries revealed Taiwan and South Korea to be the two biggest markets—Taiwan was the key contributor (40%) in terms of contact lens unit sales, whereas South Korea occupies the biggest proportion of the value sales pie (42%) in the first six months of 2010.
“Overall, Taiwan has the biggest market of contact lens users, but South Korea remains the major contributor in sales value due to the fact that the average price of contact lens is higher in the country, averaging at USD2.50 per piece,” observed Mr Stanley Kee, Regional Commercial Director, GfK Asia.
Growth of the industry in this region was propelled by Singapore, South Korea, and Hong Kong which all grew in both sales and unit values in the first six months of this year. South Korea enjoyed the greatest value growth at 10 percent, while considerable unit increment of six percent was reflected in Singapore.
A relatively new product, Silicone Hydrogel continues to sustain its good performance since its entrance into the Asian optics market in 2009. Even with its steeper pricing, this segment of contact lens grew by 28 percent in sales value and 74 percent in unit value across all five countries. Its contribution to the overall sales pie also increased by over two percent, with the biggest growth market being Singapore. Users of this product here is on the rise, and Silicone Hydrogel now contributes to over a quarter of the contact lens pie. Its registered hike in sales contribution of 6.5 percent since the second half of last year was greatest amongst all the markets.
“This recent introduction to the contact lens market offers its wearer greater comfort by reducing eye dryness, which explains why the product is selling well despite being costlier than other types of contact lens,” commented Mr Kee. “It’s registered value growth in the three growth markets of Singapore, Malaysia, and Hong Kong is an impressive 71 percent in the last six months.”
Another expanding segment in contact lens is the colored contact lens category, which had also witnessed overall growth of two percent in the past six months. Except for Hong Kong, all four other countries saw higher takings from colored lens, which is now occupying 16.5 percent of the total market share.
“While consumers still rely on spectacles for vision-correction, contact lens is heavily relied on for its convenience and cosmetic value, and has today become a daily necessity for many. We can expect more new and exciting developments and innovations in the contact lens industry in the near future, such as the impending introduction of commercial photo-chromic contact lens for instance, that will continue to keep the industry flourishing for many more years to come,” concluded Mr Kee.
About GfK Retail Panel and Optic Retail Audit
The GfK Retail Panel is a regular survey monitoring sales of specific products and product categories, using a range of Internet, retail outlets and companies to provide trade and industry highly accurate and up-to-date information on various segments of the market, including contact lenses, sporting goods and equipment, automotive.
The GfK Optics Retail Audit of contact lens started in 2007 and is conducted across 6 markets in Asia and 20 countries worldwide. Lens Care Solutions audit will start in 2010, followed by Ophthalmic Lenses, Frames and Sunglasses.
About GfK Asia Pte Ltd
A part of the global GfK Group, GfK Asia has over 25 years of experience providing reliable retail and technology market data in Asia. Our analysts track a broad range of consumer products, including technical consumer equipment, optics, automotive, and gaming software. GfK Asia covers more than 160 products and over 918,000 models, collecting monthly data from over 8,000 specialist / independent shops as well as over 560 organized retailers with approximately 15,000 outlets. Based in Singapore, GfK Asia offers extensive coverage of Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, The Philippines, and India.
About GfK Group
The GfK Group offers the fundamental knowledge that industry, retailers, services companies and the media need to make market decisions. It delivers a comprehensive range of information and consultancy services in the three business sectors Custom Research, Retail and Technology and Media. The No. 4 market research organization worldwide operates in more than 100 countries and employs over 10,000 staff. In 2009, the GfK Group’s sales amounted to EUR 1.16 billion. For further information, visit our website: www.gfk.com. Follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/
