Market Profile: GC

During the last several years, the GC market has experienced strong growth in part because of new product introductions, growth in the petroleum sector and increased opportunities in various geographies. To shed light and determine the many realities and trends of the current GC instruments market, Strategic Directions International conducted a global survey of gas chromatography (GC and GC/MS) users. The survey was designed for individuals who are currently using a wide array of GC instruments and consumables, including aftermarket software, components, and accessories. The data were collected over the phone and by an internet-based survey. When necessary, the internet survey was followed up with direct telephone interviews of the appropriate respondents to further clarify answers.

2006 Survey demographics: industry

The end-user respondents were classified by many categories to provide a clear picture of their demographics. The largest industrial segments of the survey included pharmaceuticals, academia/government, and chemical sectors, which accounted for 33%, 19% and 18% respectively. Survey participants were queried on their type of systems installed, system age, configuration, pricing, software, accessories, add-ons, service, and ratings of various parameters, among others.

The knowledgeable GC respondents were quite candid in their remarks and offered useful insights on areas for improvement. Many of them indicated that the GC market lacked intuitive analysis software. Other frequently mentioned areas for improvement included the system design issues like ease of system maintenance, column switching, and sample throughput.Finally, the ratings portion of the survey offers an inside look at the respondents' attitudes regarding suppliers of GC and GC/MS products. Agilent received high ratings in the overall system build quality, while Varian and Thermo Fisher Scientific shined in the service and support department.

The foregoing data was extracted and adapted from SDi's Global Assessment Report, 9th Edition. For more information, contact Glenn Cudiamat, VP 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