Spectroscopy market: Outlook positive
The value of the US spectroscopy market,
estimated at $4.9 billion in 2009, is projected to rise to $6.5 billion in 2014,
with a five-year compound annual growth rate of 6 percent, according to a report
from BCC Research.
Titled Spectroscopy (IAS004D) and published in May 2010, the report
indicates that the spectroscopy instrumentation market for pharmaceutical applications,
with an estimated 2009 value of more than $1 billion, is expected to reach $1.4
billion in 2014 with a compound annual growth rate of 6.1 percent. Molecular spectroscopy,
a market that in 2009 was estimated to be $1.8 billion, is projected to rise to
nearly $2.4 billion in 2014, with a compound annual growth rate of 6.1 percent.
The biotechnology application segment, estimated at $990 million in 2009, is projected
to expand to $1.3 billion in 2014 with a compound annual growth rate of 6.2 percent,
according to the report. The report also discusses and forecasts the market for
spectroscopic instrumentation in its other main applications – the analysis
of materials, the environment, food and beverages, and industrial chemistry.
Shown are US market estimates for spectroscopic instrumentation by application industry in 2009 and 2014. Courtesy of BCC Research.
Spectroscopy is a technique used to identify and determine the
physical characteristics of materials through the measurement of emissions and absorption
of electromagnetic spectra.
“In our research we found quite upbeat predictions for near-term
growth in spectroscopic instruments, rosier than what we see forecasted for the
US economy as a whole – and the situation today looks somewhat gloomier than
it did a few months ago when I finished the report,” said Charles Forman,
author of the document. He added that research and development is key to growth
in tech-oriented companies and that the increasing emphasis on detection of explosives,
hazardous and volatile chemicals and the like will foster growth in handheld and
other portable instruments for use in the field. In recent years, he said, good
growth has been seen in instruments of this type, such as handheld Raman spectrometers.
“The trend toward miniaturization, which makes smaller field-use
instruments possible, has been a solid one in recent years. Computer-controlled
instruments are now common. ‘Hyphenated spectroscopy,’ which combines
another technology, most commonly gas/liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry,
called GC-MS and LC-MS, has grown faster than some other methods and should continue
in popularity,” Forman said.
The report from BCC Research addresses techniques such as IR spectroscopy,
including IR combined with time-of-flight mass spectrometry, near-IR versus mid-range
IR spectroscopy, handheld Fourier transform IR instruments, and nanoscale IR spectroscopy.
It discusses Raman spectroscopy in nanotechnology investigation, as well as developments
in surface-enhanced and multimodal multiplex Raman spectroscopy. Fluorescence, UV/VIS,
atomic, plasma, x-ray, nuclear magnetic resonance and single-molecule absorption
spectroscopy also are considered, along with microspectroscopy.
Global views
Global spectrometer and spectrophoto/ fluorometer sales are expected
to exceed $10.3 billion by 2015, according to a report from Global Industry Analysts
Inc. (GIA) of San Jose, Calif. The publication, Spectrometers and Spectrophoto/Fluorometers:
A Global Strategic Business Report, was published in August 2010. The company says
that market sales are driven by several factors, including a shift of research funding
from gene sequencing and high-throughput screening to genetic variation analysis,
metabolomics and environmental research. It notes that expanding research markets
in Asia, particularly in India and China, present opportunities for spectrometry.
Together, Japan, Europe and the US represent an 80 percent share of the global spectroscopy
market, according to GIA.
The recently released report predicts that the molecular spectroscopy
market, representing the largest product segment, will reach $3.3 billion in revenues
by 2012 and that in Europe, the Fourier transform IR spectrometer market, which
also includes portable and handheld devices, will reach $238 million by 2015. The
report projects growth in the UV-VIS reflectometer and polarimeter markets mainly
because of the cost-effectiveness of the systems – and it predicts robust
growth in the microvolume UV-VIS systems used in the biotechnology sector.
In the area of atomic spectroscopy, the x-ray diffraction instrumentation
market is projected to expand significantly in the near term, mainly because of
the demand from the life sciences sector for research on crystallography of small
molecules and protein, according to the company.
The market for mass spectrometers is expected to be driven significantly
by factors such as government stimulus, demand from academic and government laboratories,
and the revival of held-back orders, according to the GIA report. It projects that
the matrix-assisted laser desorption/ ionization time-of-flight sector will grow
in several life sciences applications, including imaging, microbial detection and
sequencer replacements.
Published: September 2010