Microscopy, Imaging Markets Buying More Online

SPRINGFIELD, Mass., Oct. 7 -- Microscopy and imaging firms are making more online purchases and are showing increasing interest in combined infrared spectroscopy-microscopy equipment, according to a study conducted by Microscopy/Marketing & Education Inc. (MME) at the Microscopy and Microanalysis (M&M) meeting held in Quebec City in August.

According to MME's report, 54 percent of microscopists used the Internet to evaluate equipment this year, compared to only 34 percent in 1998; and in the past five years, Internet ordering by that group has jumped from 12 percent to 38 percent.

Sample preparation was the primary target of this type of e-commerce, MME said, but microscopists' purchases of cameras and imaging software sharplyi increased in 2002.

MME also said there has been an increased convergence of infrared spectroscopy with microscopy from 13 percent use in 1998 to about 20 percent this year. The growth of infrared use in microscopy labs has been limited by the narrow marketing focus of key players in the spectroscopy arena, according to the report, and although these companies have been building hybrid IR microscopes for more than five years, they have been promoting them primarily to their own spectroscopy audience.

According to MME President Barbara Foster, "This year's IR-use numbers are promising. I hope they encourage the IR manufacturers to pursue the microscopy venue more aggressively."

Seventeen percent of the 1500 M&M attendees participated in the MME study this year.

For more information, visit: www.microscopymarket.com