Zimmer Holdings, Inc.













INTRODUCTION

As the baby boom generation in the United States draws ever closer to retirement age, many business sectors are positioning themselves to serve this aging demographic. The financial services sector is busily preparing itself for aging consumers to require less risk in their personal portfolios. The real estate industry continues to see movement of aging consumers to milder climates such as Arizona and South Florida. Likewise, the orthopedics industry is developing surgical products to help people live longer, healthier and more active lives.
     
As health, nutrition, and living standards continue to improve around the world, the demand for orthopedic products such as artificial hips, artificial knees, and spine implants continues to increase. In the US Market for instance, the average lifespan of a man is now 74.9 years and a woman is 80.6 . At the same time, the legally recognized “full” retirement age continues to creep closer to 70 years of age (depending on year of birth). In addition, nearly 13% of the US population is over the age of 65 , and this percentage is expected to increase over time thanks to the baby boom generation. All this data suggests that people need to stay healthier longer in order to live active, productive, pain free lives. Zimmer Holdings is uniquely positioned to service the needs of aging people domestically and around the world.


SECTION #1

1.1     INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT
The global orthopedics market is comprised mainly of:
I.     Orthopedic Reconstructive Implants
a.     Hips
b.     Knees
II.     Trauma Products (screws, plates, etc.)

In 2003, the global orthopedics market reached a value of $6.26 billion dollars with hip implants being the largest sector with 37.3% of the market share. Knee implants followed closely behind with a 35% market share. Trauma products came in third and accounted for 27.6% of the orthopedic products sold.