PROSPECTS FOR CHINESE DEVICE FIRM LOOK GOOD, ANALYST SAYS

After a visit to Chinese device firm Mindray's R&D and manufacturing sites, "our observations and dialogue with management have increased our confidence that the company is likely to achieve our above-consensus sales and earnings forecasts in the next few years," Merrill Lynch Research analyst Bin Li said in a Jan. 24 research note.

The firm launched its first color ultrasound system in China in 2006, Bin Li said. "Our field check suggests the early adoption is encouraging [and] actual sales could exceed our estimates," he added.

"The new news is that South America has been one of the fastest growing regions for the company," Bin Li said. Mindray "still believes North America and Europe are the two most important international markets and [the firm] has substantially increased [its] investment to establish local offices."