Sleep apnea is a chronic respiratory sleep disorder that is commonly characterized by disruption of breathing while sleeping. This is characterized by conditions such as shallow periods of breathing or occurrence of breaks and pauses during sleep. The duration pauses can be for a few seconds or can last for several minutes. These disruptive events can occur multiple times during the night. People with loud snoring habits are most vulnerable to sleep apnea. Resumption of breathing after these pauses are mostly followed by choking or snorting sounds. Most people remain undiagnosed of sleep apnea, as it occurs during the night and is difficult to be detected during routine hospital visits. Apnea essentially is the squeezing of air that passes the blockage, while breathing and results in loud snoring. These blockages are mostly encountered in overweight and obese people. People suffering from diabetes are more likely to be victims of sleep apnea. Three major types of sleep apnea are obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), central sleep apnea (CSA) and mixed sleep apnea, which is a combination of the two. Obstructive sleep apnea is the most commonly found form of sleep apnea in which the breathing is interrupted by blockage of airflow.

Apart from obesity, various factors such as smoking, hereditary existence, menopause, consumption of medicines with sedative effects, having long neck, alcohol consumption, and improper sleeping habits are also responsible for prevalence of this disorder. Sleep apnea is mainly encountered among the geriatric population with growing levels of obesity. Oventus Inc. suggests that OSA prevails in approximately 3% to 7% of adult men and in 2% to 5% of adult females. In addition to this, 50% of the general population are snorers indicating the fact that this population is potential buyers of the sleep apnea devices. Around 100 million people across the globe are suspected to suffer from OSA in 2014, though the majority of this population remains undiagnosed. Sleep apnea can be treated through multiple treatment options such as natural recovery by changing everyday habits and lifestyle, as well as use of sleep apnea devices such as continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) devices or wearable forms such as mandibular advancement devices (MAD), position pillows, dental devices or tongue retaining devices. Sleep apnea can also be treated through surgical method in severe cases.

Positive Airway Pressure (PAP) devices segment to account for highest share of the global sleep apnea devices market:

The global sleep apnea devices market can be segmented on the basis of product type and end users.

On the basis of product type, the global market can be segmented as:

Therapeutic devices - These are further sub- segmented as: PAP devices

Facial interfaces

Oxygen concentrators

Adaptive servo- ventilation instruments

Airway clearance systems

Others Diagnostic devices- These are further sub- segmented as: Polysomnography (PSG) devices

Respiratory polygraphs

Single channel screening devices

Actigraphy systems

On the basis of end user, the global market can be segmented as:

Hospitals Home Care Settings Sleep Laboratories Others

The North American share to contribute the highest of the sleep apnea devices market

North America dominates the global sleep apnea devices market, followed by Europe and Asia Pacific respectively. High awareness among the populace and favorable reimbursement scenario make North America a key market for sleep apnea devices. Several other factors such as venture capital funding, new legislation of PAP devices and growth of funding and grants for development in manufacturing units of sleep apnea devices are prime reasons to boost market growth in several European countries.

Well established presence of multiple sleep apnea treating devices results in dominance of ResMed Inc (US) on global sleep apnea devices market

The global sleep apnea devices market is prominently driven by key players such as ResMed Inc., Phillips Healthcare, Fisher and Paykel Healthcare Ltd. These companies have their products selling over several countries, prominently in US and Europe, and has established a dominance in the field of sleep apnea devices industry due to their high investments in R&D and distribution force of strong sales. Following are the other players in global sleep apnea devices market which include SomnoMed Ltd., Weinmann Medical Devices GmbH, Compumedics Ltd., Whole You Inc., BMC Medical Co. Ltd, and Braebon Medical Corporation.