Michael Moretti
Medical Insight, Inc., Aliso Viejo, CA, USA
24.1 Introduction 517
24.2 First-Generation Home-Use Devices 518
24.3 Next Generation Home-Use Devices 519
24.4 Market Growth 524
24.6 Impact on Physician Practices 525
Consumers have long sought products that would help them look their best, conveniently and affordably. Not only must the prices of professional procedures performed in a salon, spa, or medical office incorporate costs and profit margins associated with these businesses, but also, traveling to these establishments for treatment typically entails an additional commitment of time. Therefore, products developed for use at home often meet this need best. In fact, consumers are quite comfortable selecting and using products at home, as most are accustomed to purchasing skin-care and hair-removal products, cosmetics, hair-care products, and other personal-care items. Until recently, however, the ability of these products to offer more efficacious results was limited, and consumers seeking more profound results had no choice but to utilize professional services. As aesthetic products and equipment manufacturers increasingly expand beyond professional markets into consumer markets, however, this scenario is changing.
Gurpreet S. Ahluwalia (ed.), Cosmetic Applications of Laser and Light-Based Systems, 517-526,
© 2009 William Andrew Inc.
In the infancy stage, this expansion from professional to consumer markets is the result of three important trends that are poised to continue through the foreseeable future:
1. advancing technology that allows the development of highly effective, yet extremely compact equipment;
2. rising competition and market saturation in the professional device sector, leading manufacturers to seek growth in the larger consumer sector;
3. rising interest in aesthetic treatments among the general public.
While the emerging new aesthetic devices for home use will offer significantly more benefit than home-use products available earlier because they will be based on technology developed for professional aesthetic practitioners, they will nonetheless not compete directly with professional treatments. This is because the new home-use devices will deliver lower levels of energy to provide the highest possible level of safety. Further, as professional equipment continues to advance, the capabilities available to physicians and other practitioners will continue to expand.
“Home devices will have less energy,” says Syneron’s Chief Marketing Officer, Mark Tager, MD. “They’re working at a different scale than professional treatments, at which the energy is at a very therapeutic level for immediate efficacy. We’ll see these products being very supportive of professional treatments, such as in maintenance programs. People get into regimens, many of which are approved by their physicians, for skin rejuvenation and skin tightening to keep them looking young. We see home devices as being supportive of good skin maintenance and enhancing awareness of the professionals’ role in the skin care process.”
Therefore, home devices are expected to address a different need than professional services.
This type of differentiation has also been observed in the relatively recent introduction of home microdermbrasion kits, which appeal in large part to consumers who purchase drug-store cosmetics, and are highly price sensitive. This group also includes teens and senior citizens, many of whom like to experiment with new skin-care products, but are not comfortable visiting a professional for treatment. However, James Bartholomeusz, Syneron’s Director of Product Development, notes that home microdermabrasion kits have a problem differentiating products since they cannot show enhanced benefits. Because of this, he says, they are less likely to be recommended by physicians.