SEGMENT REPORTING INFORMATION

9 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2012

SEGMENT REPORTING INFORMATION [Abstract]

SEGMENT REPORTING INFORMATION

NOTE 14.  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 OEM 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 the three and nine months ended December 31, 2012 and 2011 (in thousands):

	Three Months Ended						Nine Months Ended
	December 31,						December 31,
	2012			2011			2012			2011
Revenues:
Medical Market	$	8,977		$	8,147		$	25,267		$	22,636
Veterinary Market		39,865			28,467			107,299			87,684
Other(1)		960			1,236			3,508			3,558
Total revenues		49,802			37,850			136,074			113,878
Cost of revenues:
Medical Market(2)		4,282			3,514			11,286			10,180
Veterinary Market(2)		17,980			12,472			48,582			37,893
Other(1)(2)		1,464			1,386			4,158			4,083
Total cost of revenues		23,726			17,372			64,026			52,156
Gross profit:
Medical Market(2)		4,695			4,633			13,981			12,456
Veterinary Market(2)		21,885			15,995			58,717			49,791
Other(1)(2)		(504	)		(150	)		(650	)		(525	)
Gross profit	$	26,076		$	20,478		$	72,048		$	61,722

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

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