Sysmex Bets on Best of Breed
Executive Summary
Sysmex Corp. of America and Roche Diagnostics are ending their four-year-old hematology alliance a year early. Both companies say the alliance has been successful. But Roche wants to focus on its franchises in fast-growing segments of the laboratory, and Sysmex, with a series of hematology product introductions underway, wants to raise its profile in the US. The move also signals an about-face from the initial premise for doing the deal, one which was widely pervasive throughout the medical device and diagnostics sectors in the 1990s: that customers want one-stop shopping and the discounts that come from bundling one manufacturer's broad product lines. Sysmex instead is turning to a best-of-breed strategy, which has served it well in major European markets, and which, it believes, will ultimately be more lucrative.