Omron Blood Pressure Monitors - Why Are They So Popular?

 

Omron dominates the global market for home blood pressure monitors, against heavy competition from electronics giants such as Panasonic and Samsung. In the US its market share is said to be around 65%. What makes the company's products so popular?

Clearly their reputation for quality and reliability is the key. Thus, an article in the Clinical Diabetes journal said:

A recent Consumer Reports article tested 16 of the top-selling home monitors. The number one recommended automatic inflation monitor was the Omron Intellisense HEM-711AC, which can detect irregular heartbeats in addition to accurate blood pressure. The Intellisense monitors have incorporated design technology known as "fuzzy logic," which is potentially capable of calculating an anticipated systolic blood pressure so as to keep over-inflation of the cuff to a minimum. This feature has reduced the level of discomfort often associated with high cuff pressures and is now integrated by most manufacturers.

In May 2005, Choice magazine, the Australian equivalent of Consumer Reports, published its own report on the testing of 18 home blood pressure monitors, including four from Omron. (The report is available here, on a pay-per-view basis.) The Omron models comprised four of the magazine's top eight units, and three of the six "What to Buy" recommendations.

In May 2007, models from Omron made up seven of the ten best-selling blood pressure monitors at Amazon.com.  

According to the company:

As the world’s leading manufacturer of blood pressure monitors for home use, we have some of the most recognized brands on the market, one of which is Omron's lntelliSense blood pressure monitor. Clinically proven accurate, IntelliSense technology makes monitoring easy and offers personalized inflation for maximum comfort.

The company's 2006 annual report (pdf file) stressed that Omron is using its strong position to advance into new areas:

In Japan, promoting preventive medicine has been employed as one of the national policies to control medical costs. Under the guidance of national and local government authorities, efforts to address lifestyle-related disease prevention are being accelerated. Also, as societies become aging and the number of patients with lifestyle-related diseases increases, primarily in advanced countries, we expect demand for our healthcare and medical equipment continuously to expand.

Moreover, the idea has acquired general consensus among medical professionals that sharing bio-information measured at home leads effective and efficient medical treatment and supervision. Given these circumstances and views, [Omron's healthcare business] is improving its line-up of equipment useful for preventing lifestyle-related diseases, especially its “Cardiovascular Indices Monitoring Systems” designed to measure blood pressure and stiffness of arteries, while focusing the development of “Healthcare at Home” products which measure daily bio-information at home to be utilized for preventive medicine.

All the company's models, except the manual unit, are IntelliSense blood pressure monitors. According to the Omron website:

IntelliSense is a registered trademark of Omron Healthcare, Inc, and is the name of the advanced technology used in Omron's Blood Pressure Monitors. Such technology includes: Optimum Inflation Level Setting (OILS) which inflates the cuff to the ideal level with each use, and Electronic Deflation Control (EDC) which deflates the cuff at the optimal speed to allow shorter times between measurements.

* See the Newest Products and Get the Latest Prices on Omron Blood Pressure Monitors.

May 24th, 2007

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