Market Profile: The Analytical and Life Science Instruments Industry

The global market for analytical instrumentation increased from $26 billion in 2002 to more than $36 billion in 2007. The last few years have been particularly eventful for instrument companies with major acquisitions, partnerships, and other business developments. In addition, many industry participants reported record sales driven robust growth in China and other Asia Pacific areas.

2007 Analytical and Life Science Instrumentation Industry Demand

While the world's largest economies are facing troubling times, the effect this might have on the instrument market and industry participants is uncertain and arguably unrelated. In fact, many of the 66 instrument technologies that make up the analytical and life science instruments industry are expected to post solid growth over the next five years. Overall, the market is projected to generate about $49 billion in annual revenues in 2012 fueled by increased initial systems demand. Initial systems accounted for over half of the total market in 2007, while aftermarket and service accounted for 35% and 12%, respectively.

Separation technologies, which include liquid chromatography, gas chromatography, and other techniques, represent the second largest segment of the analytical instrument market accounting for roughly 17% of the total demand in 2007. This segment is expected to post strong growth over the next five years fueled by the rapid expansion in China.

As the dynamics of the industry continue to change, savvy vendors are taking advantage of the new opportunities. Technological improvement, new applications, and explosive growth in emerging geographies are all providing a positive stimulus to the overall analytical instrument market. In particular, life science research and drug development continue to represent an increasingly prominent source of demand.

The top 50 instrument companies accounted for more than three-fourths of the total instrument market. Many of these industry participants are broad-based suppliers looking to expand their market presence even further with solid organic growth and through mergers and acquisitions.

The foregoing data was extracted and adapted from SDi's Global Assessment Report, 10th Edition. For more information, contact Glenn Cudiamat, Vice President of Research Services, Strategic Directions International, Inc., 6242 Westchester Parkway, Suite 100, Los Angeles, CA 90045, (310) 641-4982, fax: (310) 641-8851, e-mail: cudiamat@strategic-directions.com