Currency exchange rates may be significantly impacting U.S. and international exporters of medical devices, a new survey from the Emergo Group reports.
The survey set out to explore the impacts a changing currency market has had on the medical device industry, asking executives at medical device firms to grade how the change in currency exchange rates have impacted their sales and exports.
Emergo surveyed medical device companies across the globe, with employee counts as low as 9 and as high as 1000, according to the report.
The currency situation has had a global impact, the survey reports, with more than 59% of executives surveyed reporting either a somewhat negative or very negative impact on their sales. Only 23% had the opposite experience.
The impact was felt hardest in the U.S., the survey reports, with 78% saying the currency rates have hurt their export business, and only 7% saying it has improved it.
Despite the currency issues, only 10% of U.S. companies plan to speed up entry into new markets, while 24% of their European counterparts said they planned new forays to increase exports.
A hefty 60% of respondents from China and Japan said exchange rates have had positive impacts, while 59% of European device companies reported negative impacts.
However, the pain in Europe wasn’t evenly felt – in the U.K. and Switzerland, 80% of respondents reported negative impacts on profitability, and only 4% reported positive shifts.
A majority of the companies surveyed said that the impact was felt quickly – with many stating their 2015 quarterly reports had been hit negatively by the shifting exchange rates, according to the survey.
