SEGMENT REPORTING INFORMATION

12 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2012

SEGMENT REPORTING INFORMATION [Abstract]

SEGMENT REPORTING INFORMATION

NOTE 16.  SEGMENT REPORTING INFORMATION

Operating segments are defined as components of an enterprise about which separate financial information is available that is evaluated regularly by our chief operating decision maker, or decision making group, in deciding how to allocate resources and in assessing performance.

Abaxis develops, manufactures, markets and sells portable blood analysis systems for use in the human or veterinary patient-care setting to provide clinicians with rapid blood constituent measurements.  We identify our reportable segments as those customer groups that represent more than 10% of our combined revenue or gross profit or loss of all reported operating segments.  We manage our business on the basis of the following two reportable segments:  (i) the medical market and (ii) the veterinary market, which are based on the products sold and services provided by market and customer group.  For the products that we manufacture and sell, each reportable segment has similar manufacturing processes, technology and shared infrastructures.  The accounting policies for segment reporting are the same as for the Company as a whole.  We do not segregate assets by segments since our chief operating decision maker, or decision making group, does not use assets as a basis to evaluate a segment's performance.

Medical Market

In the medical market reportable segment, we serve a worldwide customer group consisting of military installations (ships, field hospitals and mobile care units), physicians' office practices across all specialties, urgent care, outpatient and walk-in clinics (free-standing or hospital-connected), health screening operations, home care providers (national, regional or local), nursing homes, ambulance companies, oncology treatment clinics, dialysis centers, pharmacies and hospital laboratories.  The products manufactured and sold in this segment primarily consist of Piccolo chemistry analyzers and medical reagent discs.

Veterinary Market

In the veterinary market reportable segment, we serve a worldwide customer group consisting of companion animal hospitals, animal clinics with mixed practices of small animals, birds and reptiles, equine and bovine practitioners, veterinary emergency clinics, veterinary referral hospitals, universities, government, pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology companies and private research laboratories.  The products manufactured and sold in this segment primarily consist of VetScan chemistry analyzers and veterinary reagent discs.  We also sell OEM supplied products in this segment consisting of VetScan hematology instruments and related reagent kits, VetScan VSpro coagulation and specialty analyzers and related consumables, VetScan i-STAT analyzers and related VetScan i-STAT consumables and rapid tests.  During fiscal 2011, we began developing Abaxis Veterinary Reference Laboratories ("AVRL"), a full-service laboratory testing facility, based in Olathe, Kansas.  In October 2011, we began operating and providing veterinary reference laboratory diagnostic and consulting services for veterinarians in the United States through AVRL.

The table below summarizes revenues, cost of revenues and gross profit from our two operating segments and from certain unallocated items for fiscal 2012, 2011 and 2010 (in thousands).

	Year Ended March 31,
	2012			2011		2010
Revenues:
Medical Market	$	30,279		$	28,988	$	24,176
Veterinary Market		121,789			108,400		92,411
Other(1)		4,528			6,288		7,970
Total revenues		156,596			143,676		124,557
Cost of revenues:
Medical Market		13,505			13,647		10,490
Veterinary Market		52,466			45,438		37,162
Other(1)		5,522			4,799		4,783
Total cost of revenues		71,493			63,884		52,435
Gross profit:
Medical Market		16,774			15,341		13,686
Veterinary Market		69,323			62,962		55,249
Other(1)		(994	)		1,489		3,187
Gross profit	$	85,103		$	79,792	$	72,122

(1) Represents unallocated items, not specifically identified to any particular business segment.