Map
Case

Intuitive Surgical: the da Vinci system from FDA clearance in 2000 to recurring revenue in 2025

In July 2000 the FDA cleared Intuitive Surgical's da Vinci system for marketing, the first robotic surgical system of its kind, for laparoscopic procedures such as gall bladder and reflux surgery (FDA). In 2025 the company reported revenue of $10.1 billion, of which instruments and accessories were $6.02 billion and systems $2.47 billion, from about 3,153,000 da Vinci procedures and an installed base of about 11,106 systems. Its Form 10-K counts lease, service and instrument sales as recurring revenue (Form 10-K).

Industry
Robotic surgical devices (USA)
Frameworks applied
Six recurring-revenue models
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Frameworks applied

This case is read through the frameworks below.

  • Six recurring-revenue modelsWhen a business owner wants to move from one-off sales to recurring income, which model should they choose so that the same customer keeps paying over time?

Sources

References

Listed A–Z by author surname, Harvard style. A source with a DOI links to https://doi.org/…; one without links to its page or says plainly that it has no DOI.

  1. Food and Drug Administration (2000) FDA Approves New Robotic Surgery Device. ScienceDaily.No DOIsciencedaily.comSource page
  2. Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (2026) Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025. Washington, DC: U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.No DOIsec.govSource page