March 23, 2011 –The fifth in a series of in-depth market studies dedicated to the compact ultrasound market indicates that this segment outpaced the overall ultrasound market in 2010, reaching $276 million in the United States, a 21 percent increase from the prior year. The report, issued by industry analyst Harvey Klein, Ph.D., of Klein Biomedical Consultants Inc., projects further robust growth of compact ultrasound systems for the foreseeable future.
“The compact ultrasound market continues to be the largest segment of the overall ultrasound market in the U.S. and strong growth is expected to continue,” Klein said. “We believe the market will grow by a solid 13 percent over the next five years and reach $505 million in 2015.”
The report, “The U.S. Market for Compact Ultrasound Systems: Challenges & Opportunities – 2010,” was published in February 2011. The report cites SonoSite as the leader with 42 percent market share followed by GE and Philips for an overall market share of 78 percent. The top selling compact ultrasound products were the SonoSite M-Turbo, the Philips CX50, the GE Logiq e and the Zonare z.one systems. These four systems accounted for 62 percent of the compact market last year.
“The five largest compact markets in the U.S. were cardiology, emergency medicine, radiology/vascular, anesthesiology and musculoskeletal,” said Klein. These markets represented 66 percent of the compact market in the U.S. With recent introduction of handheld units which are attractive to these specialties, this trend should continue.”
With the launch of such handheld systems as the GE Vscan system last year, the handheld segment of the U.S. compact market is expected to gain increasing attention. The Klein report predicts growth of handheld systems to reach $78 million in the year 2015, representing three percent of the overall growth in compact systems.
Internationally, Klein is forecasting the global compact market will grow 11 percent to reach $1.1 billion. The United States will continue to lead with 13 percent, while other markets will grow 10 percent.
For the purposes of this report, compact ultrasound systems are considered to weigh less than 14 pounds. Included in this category are handheld, hand-carried and laptop products from Bard, GE, Mindray, Philips, Siemens, SonoSite, Toshiba and others. Also included is the Zonare z.one system, which is characterized as a convertible or hybrid system, since it can be separated from the cart and used as a hand-carried device. The report excluded service and veterinary care revenues.
Klein Biomedical Consultants (KBC) is a strategic marketing consulting firm specializing in the medical diagnostic imaging field. KBC has provided marketing and technical guidance to more than 150 corporations over its 30-year history.
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February 05, 2026 
