Contactology: a 25 billion dollar market

The market for contact lenses and maintenance systems will be worth 25 billion dollars, in other words, more than four times its current value (6 billion dollars). The figure has emerged from 'The future of the contactology business', a paper to be given by the Australian Brien Holden, one of the leading international researchers in the sector, at 'Contattologia & Management', the first Assottica conference, which will be held in Perugia on October 5 and 6 2003 at the Quattrotorri conference center.

According to Holden, by 2020 the global market for contact lenses and maintenance systems will increase sharply, driven by four important factors, including the constant technological innovation of the materials, which fosters the production of low-cost, high-performance products, and the demand from emergent markets.

In order to understand the economic capacity of the contactology sector and make a proper evaluation of its potential, it is necessary to start from the average annual revenue figure, currently at around 60-70 dollars per person, on the basis of 100 million users throughout the world. By assuming that the number of users will increase to one billion, and the average annual revenue per person is reduced to 25 dollars, say, it is obvious that the volume of business and the relevant profit could rapidly increase to four times the current figure.

The growth of the market will also depend on the demand from emergent markets, like China and India. Currently, the biggest number of contact lens users lives in North America (36 million), followed by Asia with 24 million - including Japan (14 million) - and Europe (20 million). But with over 1 billion near-sighted people, thanks to the growth of its middle classes and the improvement in the standard of living, Asia will probably catch up with North America within the next 10 years.