World demand steady for laboratory analytical instruments

San Jose, California– January 31, 2003 — New research shows that the laboratory analytical instrumentation market generated revenues worth US$8.82 billion in 2002 and is expected to reach US$12.03 billion in 2008.

The analysis was conducted by Frost & Sullivan World Laboratory Analytical Instrumentation Markets, and it shows that technological advancements as well as extensive research in pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, bio-chemistry and environmental testing are enabling the growth of world analytical laboratory instrumentation markets.

The emergence of Asia-Pacific markets, greater emphasis on quality control in manufacturing, application-specific instruments,and positive economic outlook also catapult demand.

“A balanced market development is expected with the trend toward integration of separations, molecular and elemental analysis instrumentation, design improvements as well as enhanced user-friendly software,” says research analyst with Frost & Sullivan, Kiran Unni.

According to Frost & Sullivan, manufacturers are making concerted efforts to enable interconnectivity between research laboratories and instruments using techniques such as lab-on-a-chip and laboratory information management systems. Miniature benchtop instruments, surface analyzers for semiconductor chip, and X-ray instrumentation with advanced software are raising market penetration.

With increasing privatization and deregulation, the developing nations of Asia-Pacific and South America envisage higher demand for laboratory instrumentation in food and beverages, power generation, gas refining, chemicals and petrochemicals. This is leading to a greater demand for different chromatographic, spectroscopic and electrophoresis equipment.

Market participants are concentrating on replacement sales, cost-cutting measures and better price-performance ratio as challenges due to market saturation, downturn of the semiconductor industry and edicts of regulatory authorities such as the Food and Drug Administration increase. Regional companies are competing in the fast moving low-priced segment as manufacturing costs are low.

The emergence of composite applications such as aroma sensing, genomics and DNA sequencing are providing new market opportunities. Explosives and narcotics detection as well as airline security concerns are accelerating the market acceptance of sophisticated technologies such as photothermal array, ion mobility spectroscopy, and nuclear quadrupole resonance.

Unni concludes, “Identification of growth trends in end-user industries, broad focus on product line expansion and strategic collaborations are essential for companies to meet the diverse requirements of the dynamic market.”

A specialist in strategic growth consulting and training, Frost & Sullivan conducts ongoing research in areas including fiber-optic test equipment, general-purpose test & measurement equipment markets, and spectrum analyzer and network analyzer markets. More details on the laboratory analytical instrumentation report can be found at www.testandmeasurement.frost.com