Sharing some thoughts out loud from the worrier in my head. Might be my mood today.

What happened at Philips in recent years—with so much value lost following a major product recall—got me thinking about the possibility of something similar happening at ResMed.

Looking back through ResMed’s history, there have been a few recalls of varying scale (as with Cochlear too), with the last large-scale device recall dating back to 2007. On top of that, there are plenty of negative customer reviews online that don’t quite align with the company’s polished brand image.

While those reviews should be taken with a grain of salt, together with the recall history they suggest a business that may be a little more fragile than I first considered. I’m still a holder, as ResMed continues to appear best-in-class despite these risks—but it’s worth keeping in mind when weighing up the overall risk profile. What happened to Philips could happen to ResMed too, though I see it as simply part of the territory when investing in medical device companies

On a side note, I had a similar thought about Nick Scali. Their customer reviews don’t seem to match the company’s polished public image. In fact, some of the worst retail reviews I’ve ever seen came from them—particularly during the COVID lockdowns, but also beyond that. The poor feedback was partly hidden by combining reviews from their furniture repair arm which was received fantastically, with those of the retail business. At one point there was even an “I Hate Nick Scali” Facebook group with around a thousand members who felt scammed. Yet despite all that, profits kept growing showing sometimes product quality may not matter as much as we think.