Dexcom stock slumped Wednesday on a Bloomberg News report that Apple is progressing on its work to add a blood glucose monitor to its market-dominating Apple Watch.
Allison Gatlin for Investor’s Business Daily:
The move would rival Dexcom’s line of body-worn continuous glucose monitors, or CGMs. These devices help people with diabetes keep tabs on their blood sugar in real time. The device requires a small needle that sits just under the skin.
Apple’s approach, on the other hand, would use a noninvasive approach, according to Bloomberg. The company is reportedly testing a system that uses lasers to look below the skin for substances that can be absorbed by glucose. An algorithm then determines the blood glucose level.
Apple’s development of a glucose monitor remains in its early stages. But it’s a lucrative market. Last year, Dexcom had more than $2.9 billion in sales. This year, the company expects $3.35 billion to $3.49 billion in sales.
The market also is growing. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show more than 11% of the U.S. population has diabetes. Almost four in 10 adults in the U.S. have prediabetes, a state in which blood sugars are higher than normal, but not high enough for a type 2 diabetes diagnosis.
MacDailyNews Take: If and when Apple succeeds, Dexcom will be the Research In Motion of that decade.
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