The popularity of medical equipment oximeters and oxygen concentrators has risen recently, so that the suspected behaviors of merchants such as raising prices on the ground, manufacturing and selling counterfeit goods have been targeted by the public.
If the necessary oximeter at home is an early warning, then the oxygen generator has entered the ranks of adjuvant treatment. As China’s epidemic prevention was lifted, oxygen makers on major e-commerce platforms have been sold out since December 23. Jd.com searches for oxygen makers and finds that the top several brands are out of stock in reservations or in selected areas.
Oxygen concentrators have also soared due to serious shortages. Some netizens observed that the official website price of a domestic head oxygen concentrator, from 2,800 yuan to more than 5,000 yuan in less than two months from the Double 11 shopping festival to the end of December.
According to media reports, a netizen said that the price of the Haier 119W oxygen generator he bought on December 5 was only less than 600 yuan, but after a week or two it had risen to 1,400 yuan, and the price had doubled in less than a month. More than double.
Sales of home medical devices rose 214 per cent month-on-month in December, according to Suning. On December 26, after the opening, the “oxygen generator concept stock” generally rose, of which Changhong Meiling opened up more than 3%, and Yuyue Medical, Kangtai Medical, Zhongding Shares, etc. all rose to varying degrees.
On January 2, 2023, the Ministry of Public Security issued a notice to crack down on illegal and criminal activities in accordance with the law in the manufacture and sale of counterfeit epidemic-related drugs, testing reagents, oxygen generators, oximeters and other related supplies.
The last time an oxygen generator exploded was in India in 2021. The severe epidemic caused the local medical system to nearly collapse, and the supply of oxygen cylinder generators for self-rescue at home was in short supply. Now after the adjustment of China’s national defense epidemic policy, the heat of oxygen generators has been “stirred” again with medical equipment such as oximeters.
01. The demand for oxygen concentrators after the epidemic prevention is released
The domestic medical oxygen concentrator was invented in the early 1970s. Prior to this, high-pressure oxygen cylinders or low-temperature liquid oxygen systems were required for home medical oxygen therapy, which required regular transportation from suppliers to supplement the supply of home medical oxygen.
In order to control costs, oxygen concentrators appeared in the United States, which greatly reduced the barriers for manufacturers to enter the market, and the invention of molecular sieves in the 1950s also promoted the possibility of oxygen concentrators for home use. Until 1985, the first household oxygen concentrator came out in the United States.
The global pandemic of the new crown virus that began in 2020, especially the severe outbreak in India, has increased the global demand for oxygen concentrators. At the same time, oximeters that can measure the saturation concentration of blood oxygen in the early stage of treatment are also attracting attention.
Time to 2023, with the liberalization of epidemic prevention and control in China at the end of 2022, preventing severe diseases and treating seriously ill patients has become a top priority.
After infection with the new crown, if there are uncomfortable symptoms such as dyspnea and hypoxemia, it can be relieved by oxygen inhalation, and the oxygen generator can help patients in home isolation, such as the elderly with underlying diseases.
Relevant information shows that the use of oxygen concentrators is middle-aged and elderly people, pregnant women, special patients, etc., with capacities ranging from 1L-3L to 5L-10L. People with varying degrees of hypoxia can try to use oxygen concentrators after consulting a doctor.
The small capacity of 1-2L belongs to the health care type (household type). It improves the oxygen supply status of the body, eliminates fatigue, and restores body functions through oxygen supply. It is suitable for some middle-aged and elderly people, pregnant women, and people with poor physical fitness who have symptoms of hypoxia. , athletes, heavy physical workers and mental consumers. To travel to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, portable oxygen generators can also relieve the discomfort caused by high anti-altitude.
According to the Administrative Measures for the Registration and Filing of Medical Devices issued by Order No. 47 of the State Administration for Market Regulation on August 26, 2021, it is clearly required that Class I medical devices be recorded, and 1-2L capacity oxygen generators belong to Class I and must be recorded. Class II medical devices, such as oxygen concentrators with a capacity of 3L and above, must apply for a registration certificate.
The large volume of 3L and above is medical grade, which relieves hypoxic acute and chronic respiratory diseases, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases and other hypoxic diseases by supplying oxygen to patients. There are misleading consumers in the market, and 1-2L is defined as a medical oxygen concentrator, which requires us to keep our eyes open when purchasing.
Medical grade oxygen concentrators belong to the second class of medical devices with moderate risk stipulated in the Regulations on the Supervision and Administration of Medical Devices and need strict control and management to ensure their safety and effectiveness, which are suitable for the production of oxygen-enriched air, oxygen therapy or relief of discomfort caused by lack of oxygen.
The oxygen concentrator is also an auxiliary treatment device explicitly mentioned in the “Overall Plan for the Implementation of “Class B and B Tube” for Novel Coronavirus Infection”.
At present, most of the household oxygen generators on the market are molecular sieve oxygen generators, which are characterized by cheap cost, easy to use, flexible movement, and safe carrying.
The working principle of molecular sieve oxygen generator is pressure swing adsorption (PSA) technology and desorption technology. During work, nitrogen in the air is adsorbed and the remaining oxygen in the air is collected, which is purified and turned into high concentration oxygen, and then oxygen is supplied to patients with oxygen tubes. The whole process is cycled periodically and dynamically, and the molecular sieve is not consumed.
Although the oxygen generator is called “oxygen production”, it does not actually produce oxygen, but plays the role of extracting, filtering, purifying and collecting oxygen in the air. Oxygen concentrators also do not assist the human body to absorb oxygen, requiring patients who take oxygen to have the ability to breathe spontaneously.
In the three years of the pandemic, we have jointly experienced explosions and out-of-stock from forehead thermometers, thermometers to oximeters, ventilators, oxygen generators, etc., from simple detection to adjuvant treatment, and the response measures have become more and more complete.
Compared with the early warning of the oximeter, the oxygen generator plays a certain protective role for the people who really need it. With the rapid increase in the number of infected people, the current situation tests people’s confidence in the shortage of medical resources, and a household oxygen concentrator for the elderly, patients with underlying diseases, pregnant women, etc. can be prepared in case of emergency.
02. Who scraped the oxygen generator market cake?
Similar to the demand for oximeters, the demand for oxygen generators at home and abroad has increased significantly in the past two years under the epidemic, and the market scale of oxygen generators has expanded rapidly.
On the domestic demand side, the demand for oxygen generators in China in 2019 was 1.46 million units (+40%), and the demand for oxygen concentrators in China in 2021 reached 2.752 million units (+40.4%), and Guojin Securities expects that the demand for oxygen concentrators in China is expected to reach more than 3.8 million units in 2022; On the global demand side, according to the forecast of QY Research, the global market size will increase from 2426.54 million US dollars in 2019 to 3347.54 million US dollars in 2026, with a compound annual growth rate of 4.7%.
On the domestic production side, in 2021, the output of oxygen generators in China reached 4.16 million units (+98.10%); On the global production side, driven by the intensification of the global epidemic in 2021, domestic manufacturers continued to explore overseas markets, with an export volume of 1.4141 million units (+287.32%) and an export amount of US$683.5668 million (+298.5%), mainly exported to India, Myanmar and other countries.
QY Research predicts that the global oxygen concentrator market size will increase by $3.348 billion from $2.427 billion from 2019 to 2026, with a compound annual growth rate of 4.70%.
The world’s leading manufacturers of medical oxygen concentrators are Inogen, Invacare, Caire, Omron, Philips. Domestic oxygen generators started late, mainly low-end, manufacturers include Yuyue Medical, Kefu Medical, Zhongke Meiling, Siasun Medical and so on. As of December 28, 2022, the State Food and Drug Administration and provincial food and drug administrations have approved the listing of more than 230 oxygen generator products, involving many listed companies such as Yuyue Medical, Kangtai Medical, and Kefu Medical. In recent years, domestic oxygen generator brands based on Yuyue have begun to rise and enter the first echelon of domestic oxygen generators.
You will find that many manufacturers of oximeters also have oxygen generator business lines, such as Yuyue, Kangtai, Lepu, Meiling, Haier, Omron, Philips, Kefu and other domestic and foreign brands.
Yuwell’s oxygen concentrator business has a relatively large volume. In 2021, the respiratory treatment/medical oxygen supply business revenue will reach 2,622,792,300 yuan, accounting for 38%. Public news shows that Yuyue oxygen generator occupies 60% of the market and ranks first in domestic and global sales. Just past Double 11, Yuyue Medical’s oxygen generator Jingdong and Tmall brand sales and sales volume first. Medical once said that its annual global sales of oxygen concentrators in 2021 exceeded 1 million units, taking the lead in breaking through the industry’s million-unit mark.
In 2021 and the first half of 2022, the revenue of Kangtai Medical’s blood oxygen products was 461 million yuan and 154 million yuan, respectively, accounting for about 50% of the revenue.
Yuyue Medical and Kangtai Medical are the two leading enterprises of domestic medical oxygen generators, in addition, medical device companies such as Kefu Medical, Siasun Medical, Baolait, Lepu Medical and Lipon Instruments with relatively few blood oxygen products are also taking this opportunity to seize the market. In 2021, the business volume of Kefu Medical will be 199.6332 million yuan, accounting for 8.77%; The sales revenue of Siasun Medical’s oxygen generator products in 2021 remained above 90%.
In response to the shortage of oxygen generators, domestic oxygen generator manufacturers have recently answered.
Kangtai Medical said on the interactive platform on January 3 that the company has four medical oxygen generators of 3 liters, 5 liters, 7 liters and 10 liters and two household oxygen generators with adjustable flow of 1 liter and 2 liters.
Kangtai Medical said on the interactive platform on January 3 that the company has four medical oxygen generators of 3 liters, 5 liters, 7 liters and 10 liters and two household oxygen generators with adjustable flow of 1 liter and 2 liters. The price increase of oxygen generators was also criticized by netizens, and in the previous “Yuyue shipped products were recalled” incident, the parties said that their same oxygen generator rose from 4700 yuan to 9800 yuan.
According to public information, Yuyue has the world’s largest oxygen generator factory in Jiangsu, with a 1,500m oxygen generator production line and a production scale of 30,000 square meters, and if the full horsepower is turned on, the production capacity can reach 8,000 units a day.
03. How many chips are the upstream parts of the oxygen generator?
Imported oxygen generators are positioned at the high end, such as Japan’s Daikin oxygen generator (Japan) and the United States sub-suitable oxygen generator The price is more than 10,000 yuan.
Domestic brands are relatively affordable, with prices ranging from 2000-5000 yuan. In the Jingdong gold list, the highest sales products are concentrated in about 2000-3000 yuan, and the oxygen output is 3L and 5L of medical-grade large capacity. In recent years, with the maturity of the domestic market, the average price has been decreasing.
Let’s first look at the circuit board and oxygen sensor of the oxygen generator, its component in the oxygen generator is not the core, and the demand for electronic components in the oxygen generator accounts for a small head.
According to the well-known blogger “hard core disassembly” in 2021, the disassembly of an Omron oxygen generator home HAO-2210 portable oxygen machine priced at 1800 yuan, the air is filtered through a series and finally passes through the separator to obtain oxygen, circuit boards and other electronic devices are only auxiliary oxygen generators, playing a control and display role.
Zhihu answerer @ Night cat oxygen generator introduced to us that the circuit board of the oxygen generator is only about half the size of a mobile phone, and it is much smaller than the circuit board of a ventilator about 50 by 55 (cm). Judging from some disassembly videos and circuit diagrams, the core components of oxygen generators mainly include MCUs, discrete devices, sensors, power management chips, etc.
Search for the chip scheme and selection of oxygen generator, in terms of the opening of health medical equipment solutions, the selection of MLCC and sensor is related to power ripple and sensor stability, in addition to medical-grade MLCC, there must be a high-precision, low-power sensor solution.
The chip solution of domestic analog chip design company Nanochip for household oxygen generator products uses NSPGS2 series pressure sensors. According to reports, it integrates a 24-bit ADC and a 12-bit DAC, which supports sleep operation mode and greatly reduces the burden on the MCU; High degree, good performance, -20 to 70 °C full temperature zone comprehensive accuracy 2.5%; MEMS (Microelectromechanical System) chip back air intake, integrated internal temperature sensor, to achieve temperature compensation; There are a variety of analog voltage output forms, etc.
ZXP2 (400KPa) absolute pressure sensor from Zhixin Sensing, known as a new generation of domestic ZXP2 (400KPa) absolute pressure sensor independently developed, supports analog or digital output, and can completely replace foreign imported high-end pressure sensors. Under the control of this sensor, patients can make corresponding adjustments according to their actual situation, resulting in lower power consumption and better portability. In addition to oxygen generators, it is also widely used in engine control, industrial control and other fields.
The core of the molecular sieve oxygen generator is actually in the compressor and molecular sieve.
In terms of compressors, common compressor brands are Thomas, domestic brands include Daikin, Guangshun, Shengyao, Epley, etc., and domestic mainstream oxygen generator manufacturers Sea Turtle, Yuyue, Siasong, etc. have used domestic brand compressors.
Molecular sieve is a synthetic zeolite material with precise and uniform structure and size pores, capable of preferential adsorption of gases and liquids according to molecular size and polarity. China has basically realized the domestic substitution of molecular sieve, domestic enterprises in the low-end forming molecular sieve market has matured, Jianlong Weina, Shanghai Hengye, Dalian Haixin’s molecular sieve production capacity ranks among the top ten in the world. (2018 statistics)
At present, the capacity of household oxygen concentrators on the market is divided into 1L, 3L and 5L, the average 1L needs to use 650g of molecular sieve, neutral assuming that the amount of molecular sieve of 1 oxygen generator is 3L, then 1 oxygen generator needs molecular sieve 1.95kg, it is estimated that the cost of molecular sieve of an oxygen generator is 390 yuan (1.95/1000 * 200000 = 390 yuan), accounting for about 13%-19.5% of the oxygen generator in the 2000-3000 price range.
Molecular sieve is a raw material, the core of determining oxygen concentration is filling technology, you cannot replace it at will. If the filling technology is poor, the friction is too large, and it is easy to get moisture, the oxygen concentration drops quickly after 1-2 years of use of the machine.
The state requires that the oxygen concentration of the oxygen generator is lower than 82% international standard, and the low oxygen concentration alarm must be low, and some oxygen generator manufacturers do not have this function, and it is difficult for ordinary consumers to find.
04 Summary
It is not uncommon for masks, antigens, drugs and other markets to ask for sky-high prices, medical equipment cannot be supplied, and the market is mixed. I don’t know if raw materials have risen or not, but at this point, big-name oxygen generator merchants have also begun to reduce preferential activities, opening a series of “original price” pre-sales, throwing the problem of “buying or not” to consumers.
In addition to the difficulty of purchasing, the correct use of oxygen concentrators as a medical device for auxiliary treatment is also a challenge for ordinary people.
In medicine, 2L/min-3L/min is a low-flow oxygen, even if it is high-flow oxygen intake above 5L/min, the respiratory system is seriously damaged to use more than 5L/min, normally, it is necessary to maintain this high-flow oxygen intake at a level of 90%. Compared with the oxygen cylinder in the hospital, the oxygen concentration of the molecular sieve oxygen generator is difficult to guarantee, and it may also face failure, and the oxygen quality and maintenance time are unstable.
In daily use, the oxygen generator also needs to be equipped with nasal cannula oxygen, mask oxygen, oxygen storage mask and even ventilator, many inexperienced buyers are difficult to operate correctly, so in the past, the demander purchased and used under the doctor’s advice.
Whether it is an oximeter or an oxygen concentrator, they are medical auxiliary tools, but an additional “guarantee” for each individual in the face of uncertainty: what if it is used?
Post time: Jan-12-2023