Analysts and industry insiders believe adult incontinence is the new field which Procter & Gamble has alluded to be currently preparing to enter.
Whether this will be good news for nonwovens suppliers, however, remains to be seen.
It’s a category the company helped create with the launch of its Attends brand back in 1978 and the sale of the brand twenty years later – it is now owned by Domtar – surprised everyone, since only growth is forecast for this market.
“We think P&G is most likely to enter the incontinence market in North America, Western Europe and Asia,” Wall Street analyst Ali Dibadj wrote in a recent report for clients. “We think the company could see about $800 million in incremental sales from incontinence in the next few years.”
“P&G can’t ignore the incontinence category any longer,” writes Tom Wilson, co-founder and president of The CareGiver Partnership on his blog. “They know how to make products that absorb and they have a very strong global sales and marketing team. What other category can they enter with such strong growth metrics that leverages their core strengths?
“The big dilemma for the current manufacturers is that P&G usually doesn’t introduce me-too products and they aren’t going to settle for a small share. Assuming the rumours are true and they begin shipping this summer or early fall with a full line of 24 items – pads and pull on underwear for women in different pack counts – I expect they will target at least 25% of the market.”
Goldman Sachs analyst Jason English, though, has suggested that P&G will attack the incontinence problem “from a different angle” than the adult diapers that now dominate the market.
“A patent published in April suggests P&G has developed a new device designed to be inserted into a woman’s vagina to support the bladder and prevent leakage,” he wrote. “Similar devices are used in medical communities, but we are unaware of any mass produced offerings.”
