Surgical Robot Wars (Motley Fool)
The stakes are getting higher. During the most recent MAKO Surgical (NASDAQ: MAKO) conference call, CEO Maurice Ferré noted that they have “gained increasing attention from competitors.” So the heat is officially on ... and this at a time when MAKO's sales have stumbled.
Who will come out on top of the struggle for robotic supremacy? That is the $64 question facing investors, and we have a lot more than $64 resting on the answer.
Traditional Surgical Providers
Most of MAKO’s competitors provide only implants and tools for traditional orthopedic surgery. They are large, well established companies supporting a variety of surgical disciplines; but none of them builds surgical robots -- not yet at least. Top on the list are privately held Biomet, DePuy Orthopedics – a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, Smith & Nephew(NYSE: SNN), Stryker (NYSE: SYK), and Zimmer Holdings (NYSE: ZMH). Three of the five (Biomet, DePuy Ortho, and Zimmer) are neighbors in Warsaw, Ind., a little-known mecca of biomedical device technology; Stryker is nearby in Kalamazoo, Mich.; while Smith & Nephew hales from London.
All five of them design, fabricate, and distribut...
