APART from photography, Fujifilm is also making great strides in another portfolio that caters to the country’s expanding medical industry.
“Healthcare business is rapidly growing,” Fujifilm Philippines Inc. President Masahiro Uehara told reporters at the sideline of their signing of a Memorandum of Agreement with Shinagawa Healthcare Solutions Corp. held in Taguig City on March 23.
This segment is currently bigger at an undisclosed number than the firm’s camera offering, at least in the country, following the acquisition of another industry player’s medical unit a couple of years ago.
“We are expecting it to grow by leaps and bounds because in 2021, Fujifilm globally acquired the Hitachi healthcare business,” said JP Camarillo, deputy division head for healthcare at Fujifilm Philippines.
For 179 billion yen, Fujifilm Healthcare took over Hitachi’s Diagnostic Imaging-related business in March 31, 2021, with the goal of combining both organizations’ product lineups to offer a comprehensive solution for a wide range of clinical needs.
“So from purely Fujifilm, we are now also handling the entire portfolio of Hitachi healthcare that includes the CT, MRI, X-ray, ultrasound, etc.,” he elaborated.
Given such development, as well as the constant expansion of public and private healthcare facilities nationwide, the company is bullish about sustaining its strong performance in 2023.
“At least for us [in the medical unit], it’s a double-digit growth for the healthcare business. I think the government has infused a lot of capital and a lot of funds to expand the healthcare facilities across the country. So we are very optimistic in terms of growth, and not only in the government sector, but even the private sector like Shinagawa,” Fujifilm Philippines Medical Division Manager Evan Reyes said of their partnership to bring innovative endoscopy, CT Scan, mammogram, X-ray, and ultrasound machines to the latter’s new diagnostic and preventive care center that will open in Bonifacio Global City in April.
Across Southeast Asia, he said the Philippines is likely the “third or fourth” top diagnostic and medical market for Fujifilm at present.
In fact, at least one of their branded healthcare equipment can be found in all diagnostics facilities all over the country, per Camarillo, who noted that they are a supplier or vendor “to a lot of healthcare institutions” from first to tertiary levels of hospitals.
Being an end-to-end digital imaging and healthcare solutions provider, Fujifilm now has two service centers—located in Taguig and Cebu.
“I think there’s a bigger demand even in Visayas and Mindanao. So that’s why we wanted to expand our services [there],” Reyes said of the growing needs for both camera and medical devices.
“So soon we might open [a service center-cum-office in] Mindanao, [particularly in] Davao, so that at least we have three sites operating by the end of the year,” he stressed.
