Oct 12 2009
According to a new technical market research report, Microscopy: The Global Market (IAS017C) from BCC Research, the global market for microscopes and accessories is expected to rise to $3.6 billion in 2014, for a 5-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.5% from 2009.
The market as a whole is expected to decline by more than 12% in 2009 because of the global economic downturn. The contraction is expected to be particularly severe in the case of charged-particle and scanning-probe microscopes, due to their heavy dependence on the semiconductor industry. The same two segments, however, are expected to show the most rapid growth between 2009 and 2014.
Microscopes are a multibillion-dollar industry and serve a vital role in life-sciences research, microelectronics, and advanced-materials science. Microscopy is particularly important to the expanding field of nanotechnology. That field's applications make up the major market for scanning-probe microscopes (SPMs), including scanning-tunneling microscopes (STMs) and atomic-force microscopes (AFMs). SPMs enable scientists to image, characterize and manipulate nanoscale structures. The field of microscopy continues to evolve rapidly, as new requirements and imaging technologies are developed.
According toMicroscopy: The Global Market,the microscopes segment makes up the bulk of the market, with sales of $2 billion in 2008. Sales are projected to fall in 2009 to $1.7 billion, but rebound by 2014 to $3.1 billion, for a CAGR of 12.4%. Accessories and supplies make up the remainder of the market with sales in 2008 of $360 million, increasing slightly in 2009 to about $374 million, and reaching $513 million in 2014, for a CAGR of 6.5%.
In terms of growth, from the perspective of mid-2009, BCC believes that the fundamentals are in place for continued growth in the optical microscope market, including:
- Educational-equipment spending
- Trends in infrared spectroscopy
- Life-sciences R&D
- Material-science instrument spending
The impact of certain drivers, e.g., trends in infrared spectroscopy, will be felt in particular subsegments of the optical microscopy market, such as reflecting (infrared) microscopes. Another driver that will probably have a negative impact on the market for some types of optical microscope, particularly upright microscopes, is a shift away from optical microscopes towards electron and other advanced types of microscopes in some applications.
The market for charged particle microscopes, like the optical microscope market, is driven in part by developments in life-sciences R&D and materials science Other drivers of the charged particle market include trends in the semiconductor industry and the progressive substitution of electron for optical microscopes in many applications, particularly as feature sizes shrink below the limit resolvable by most optical microscopes.
Future sales of scanning probe microscopes will be driven in large part by the recovery of the semiconductor industry. Future sales of SPMs will also be driven by the growth of the nanotechnology market, including nanoscale applications, for many of which SPMs by their nature are ideally suited.