Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2009

Does this help?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niche_market

"Niche-based products" are products designed for/targeted at a particular
market niche.

See the Wikipedia article on "Niche market":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niche_market

   A niche market is a focused targetable portion (subset) of a market.
   
   By definition, then, a business that focuses on a niche market is
   addressing a need for a product or service that is not being addressed by
   mainstream providers. A niche market may be thought of as a narrowly
   defined group of potential customers.
   
   A distinct niche market usually evolves when a potential demand for a
   product or service is not met by any supply, or when a new demand arises
   due to changes in society, technology, or the general environment.
   
   ... The key to capitalizing on a niche market is to find or develop a
   market niche that has customers who are accessible, that is growing fast
   enough, and that is not owned by one established vendor already.

The other answers are correct, and I didn't read them fully enough to
know if they made this point.

I don't like the use of -based.     Let's say the niche was those
between 10 and 20 who had rare Disease A, or who had Disease B and
complication C.     Is the product, the drug based on "age, disease,
complication"?   I think it is designed for or targeted at the niche,
like Opinicus says.  Not based on it.

I think "-based" is a term borrowed from some other application where
it made literal sense.  Like iso-receptor based treatment, a term I
made up, where the treatement is based on the kind of drug used,
iso-receptors  (I think I made that up too).

"-based" may be in danger of being madly applied in many situations
where it is either ungrammatical or nonsensical, like -wise and
-phobia.

P&M