Latest News ABB Optical Group Publishes Year-in-Review Industry Insights By Staff Wednesday, February 22, 2017 12:24 AM CORAL SPRINGS, Fla.—Calendar year 2016 was notable for “consistent growth” and “strong sales” of contact lenses, particularly daily disposals, according to ABB Optical Group’s year-in-review report on the U.S. optical market. In the report issued this week, ABB Optical also noted that the growth in contact lens sales “shows no signs of slowing” in 2017.ABB Optical distributes optical products to two-thirds of U.S. practicing optometrists and is “a leading resource for identifying industry trends and projecting areas of future growth,” according to the report.Among the other key sales results and 2017 projections, ABB Optical said its data on same-store sales show: • Daily disposable growth was up nearly 23 percent and represented 76 percent of all growth in the category in 2016. • Reusable contact lenses were soft in 2016 with a slight decline of 0.4 percent, but have come to life with recent monthly lens introductions of sphericals, torics and multifocals. • Growth of torics was up 11 percent, driven predominantly by daily disposable torics, which saw sales growth of more than 36 percent. • Multifocals continue to post gains with growth of nearly 17 percent. The growth was dominated by daily disposable multifocals at more than 69 percent due to recent introductions from all four major manufacturers in the category. “Looking at 2017 and beyond, torics and multifocals will continue to be the growth drivers in daily disposables, which already represent the dominant share of spherical dollars at 48 percent,” ABB Optical Group vice president of marketing Aaron See said in a statement. “There’s more opportunity for growth in daily disposable multifocals and torics, which lag behind at just 32 percent and 25 percent in those segments, respectively.” In 2016, ABB Optical reported that its data show a nearly 8 percent organic contact lens growth from practices that have chosen to partner with the company, which it said is a “growth rate that is roughly 60 percent to 70 percent faster than the market.”