Five Asian countries used contact lens worth US$296mln

Silicone Hydrogel lenses segment’s sales value grew 28% and 74% in unit value across five countries.

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.