SEGMENT REPORTING INFORMATION

12 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2013

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.  Starting in the first quarter of fiscal 2013, we also began to serve the pharmaceutical clinical trial market.  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 original equipment manufacturer supplied products in this segment consisting of VetScan hematology instruments and related reagent kits, VetScan VSpro 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.

Total Revenues, Cost of Revenues and Gross Profit by Segment

The table below summarizes revenues, cost of revenues and gross profit from our two operating segments and from certain unallocated items for fiscal 2013, 2012 and 2011 (in thousands).

	Year Ended March 31,
	2013		2012		2011
Revenues:
Medical Market(1)	$	31,643	$	30,404	$	29,146
Veterinary Market(1)		150,510		122,253		109,594
Other(1)(2)		3,872		3,939		4,936
Total revenues		186,025		156,596		143,676
Cost of revenues:
Medical Market(1)		15,179		14,323		14,357
Veterinary Market(1)		72,477		57,032		49,330
Other(1)(2)		138		138		197
Total cost of revenues		87,794		71,493		63,884
Gross profit:
Medical Market(1)		16,464		16,081		14,789
Veterinary Market(1)		78,033		65,221		60,264
Other(1)(2)		3,734		3,801		4,739
Gross profit	$	98,231	$	85,103	$	79,792

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(1) Includes certain prior fiscal year amounts by operating segment and unallocated items that were reclassified to conform to the current fiscal year presentation.

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