15 August 2016 - - The personal mobility devices market was valued at USD 7.7bn in 2015 and is projected to expand at a CAGR of 7.2% from 2016 to 2024 to reach USD 14.6bn in 2024, according to a new report from US-based Transparency Market Research.

This market is characterised by a high level of consolidation in developed markets but is fragmented in most of the emerging markets, states Transparency Market Research in a recent report.

A high rate of technological advancements and innovations in the market have intensified the competition among key international companies.

The demand for personal customizations in devices such as wheelchairs could also further intensify the competitive rivalry among key vendors in the market.

A rising global demand for innovative, cost-effective, and technologically advanced devices capable of catering to multiple forms of disabilities is expected to attract new vendors in the market in the next few years.

To strengthen their market position, expand product portfolios, and venture into attractive regional markets, leading players in the personal mobility devices market are following the course of mergers and acquisitions.

A recent instance is the acquisition of 1st Call Mobility, a UK company that supplies rental mobility equipment for bariatric patients and plus size individuals, by Getinge Group.

Other key vendors in the global personal mobility devices market are Argo Medical, Amigo Mobility International, Inc., ArjoHuntleigh, Drive Medical, Hill-Rom Holdings, Inc., and GF Health Products, Inc.

In the past few years, the world has seen a vast surge in the population of permanently or temporarily disabled individuals. The rapidly rising global population of geriatrics has stimulated the increase in conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis.

This, coupled with the risk of a number of other obesity and lifestyle-related disabilities that often increase with age, is expected to fuel the global demand for a variety of personal mobility devices.

With the aim of tackling the adverse effects and the vast socio-economic burden of the aging population on the society, several governments are already providing or are on the course of providing grants.

Point in case is the nearly USD 12.5m given by the US Department of Health and Human Services in 2012 to help make the elderly and disabled people in the US self-reliant.

Such grants and active efforts from government bodies are expected to drive several developments in the field of personal mobility devices, fueling growth of the global market in the next few years.

Some of the key restraints limiting the widespread adoption of a variety of personal mobility devices are the high costs of high-end products, social stigma associated with the use of devices such as canes, crutches, and wheelchairs, and the lack of technical expertise among sellers.

The high costs of technologically advanced personal mobility devices limit their usage to a larger extent to the select few affluent consumers, deterring their adoption across the highly promising emerging economies with vast untapped growth opportunities.

A lack of technologically sound sales personnel that can instruct the consumer regarding the correct usage of high-end models also limits the scope of growth of the market for advanced mobility devices in emerging economies such as Asia Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa.

Factors such as increase in training initiatives, the rising provision of insurance for the aged and the disabled, and rental provisions of a variety of personal mobility equipment will enable the market to tread along a healthy growth path in the next few years.

Transparency Market Research estimates that the global personal mobility devices market will expand at 7.2% CAGR over the period between 2016 and 2024. The market, which had an opportunity of USD 7.7bn in 2015, is expected to rise to USD 14.6bn in 2024.

The segment of wheelchairs accounted for the dominant share of nearly 56% in the medical mobility aids and ambulatory devices market in 2015.

The availability of product varieties with wide-ranging features, from affordable basic models to expensive high-end, technologically advanced and motored products, enables the segment of wheelchairs to cater to a large number of consumers with diverse needs.

Of the two broad segments of wheelchairs - electric and manual -electric wheelchairs are presently the most preferred variety, accounting for revenues worth USD 1.735bn to the wheelchairs segment in 2015.