Reporter's investigation found that sales of epidemic prevention products gradually returned to normal
Text/Guangzhou Daily All Media Reporter Xu Xiaofang
In recent years, electronic thermometers have become one of the "less used but necessary" medical devices at home, and the market has also expanded rapidly.
But is the electronic thermometer accurate?
What problems do consumers often encounter during use?
The reporter investigated the electronic thermometer market and found that the current sales of epidemic prevention products are gradually returning to normal.
Three-month-old baby with normal body temperature was measured to be 40 degrees Celsius
In October 2020, the State Food and Drug Administration issued a notice clearly requiring that from January 1, 2026, my country will completely ban the production of mercury-containing thermometers and mercury-containing sphygmomanometers.
This means that mercury thermometers are about to become history, and electronic thermometers have ushered in the "spring" of the market.
But in the opinion of some people, "some electronic thermometers are not very accurate in temperature measurement, and they do not feel very trustworthy."
When the reporter searched for "electronic thermometer" from the black cat complaint platform, he noticed that the complaints of consumers mainly focused on "large temperature difference" and "error".
Some consumers reported that they purchased an Omron electronic thermometer on the e-commerce platform, and measured the body temperature of 40 degrees Celsius when the three-month-old baby at home used it for the first time.
"The whole family was particularly worried, so they rushed to the fever clinic and used the hospital mercury thermometer to measure below 37 degrees Celsius. The doctor said that the body temperature was normal."
The failure rate of electronic thermometers is relatively high
The reporter noticed that on February 8, the website of the Guangdong Provincial Market Supervision and Administration Bureau released a notice on the results of provincial supervision and spot checks on type-approved measuring instruments in 2021 (hereinafter referred to as the "Notice").
It is understood that among the 17 batches of electronic thermometers in the random inspection, 4 batches were unqualified, and the unqualified rate was 23.5%.
Among them, the electronic thermometer produced by Aole Medical Equipment (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. concluded that its performance was unqualified.
Its specification model is T104, and the production date or batch number is November 2020; in addition, the unqualified products also have two specifications and models L900A and L900B produced by Shenzhen Laolangzhong Electronics Co., Ltd., and the production batch numbers are 2020. February and September 2020; another electronic thermometer produced by Shenzhen Xunwei Industrial Co., Ltd. also showed "unqualified".
According to the results of the 2021 Shanghai Metrology Product Quality Supervision and Spot Check (Medical Electronic Thermometer) announced on the website of the Shanghai Municipal Administration for Market Regulation on January 26.
Of the 5 batches of products tested in this random inspection, 2 batches were unqualified, and the unqualified rate was 40%.
The results showed that two batches of electronic thermometers were found to be unqualified, and the trademarks (nominal) involved Lingmai and Jiaxun.
Industry view
Unsustainable risk of future performance growth
According to the statistical analysis of the "2020-2025 China Electronic Thermometer Industry Supply and Demand Analysis and Development Prospect Research Report" published by the China Research Institute of Technology, the market size of my country's electronic thermometer industry is expected to be about 2.9 billion yuan by 2022.
In the past ten years, the electronic thermometer product industry has entered an unprecedented period of rapid development.
Some analysts pointed out that the electronic thermometer, an environmentally friendly electronic product, will usher in a new period of rapid development and bring huge business opportunities to these medical enterprises.
According to the summary of the thermometer industry and the current situation data, from 2016 to 2020, the output of handheld infrared thermometers in my country has steadily increased, and the output in 2020 will reach 300,000 units.
Production is expected to reach 650,000 units in 2021.
It is understood that there are many companies related to electronic thermometers in the current market. The reporter found through the Tianyancha App search that there are nearly 10,000 related results, and many of them are small and medium-sized enterprises with registered capital of several million yuan.
According to the introduction of medical device company Kefu Medical, the performance growth in 2020 is sporadic. As the sales price and sales volume of anti-epidemic materials return to normal, there is a risk of unsustainable performance growth in the future.
Data shows that in the first half of 2021, the performance of Kefu Medical has declined.
From January to June 2021, its operating income was 1.1 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 10.50%; its net profit was 216 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 20.97%.