Last year was somewhat of a pedestrian year for mass spectrometry (MS), with the market growing modestly in the mid-single digit range. Market growth was driven mainly by demand for LC/MS technologies, offset by weak demand for portable and in-field MS and magnetic sector MS instruments. For 2014, the overall market for MS is forecast to increase 8.2%.

All technology segments of the MS market are expected to post stronger growth this year. Demand from molecular diagnostics and clinical research applications are expected to drive growth. Additionally, users are gravitating to higher performance systems, which bodes well for newly introduced products.

The MS market is extremely top heavy, with the top six vendors accounting for 86% of the total market. AB SCIEX (Danaher) leads the market, holding a 22% market share, with strength in the LC/MS and MALDI-TOF MS markets. Agilent Technologies ranks second, with 20% of the total MS market, followed closely by Thermo Fisher Scientific with 19%. Waters accounts for 12% of the total MS market, while Bruker and Shimadzu have about 8% and 5% market shares, respectively.

Quadrupole LC/MS, which includes both single quadrupole and triple quadrupole MS technologies, is the largest of the seven MS technology categories, accounting for about a third of the MS market. Improvements in triple quadrupole MS sensitivity and performance continue to drive demand for higher-end systems, particularly from pharmaceutical and biotechnology labs. AB SCIEX and Agilent are the leading vendors in this segment.

Growth in the GC/MS market is fueled by demand for triple quadrupole systems. These systems continue to draw interest, particularly for routine analysis. An important part of the GC/MS market is single quadrupole GC/MS, which is mainly buoyed by replacement sales. Innovative systems such as Q-TOF GC/MS are expected to drive demand in the GC-TOF market. Overall, the GC/MS market is forecast to increase 5.4% in 2014, with Agilent and Shimadzu leading the market.

The FT/MS and ion trap MS market account for 17% of the total MS market. Demand for this segment is forecast to increase 9.1% in 2014, driven mainly by FT/MS. The market is somewhat of a two-horse race between Thermo and Bruker. Thermo leads the market with its Orbitrap-based systems. Recently, it launched the Orbitrap Fusion Tribrid, which combines quadrupole, Orbitrap, and linear ion trap mass analyses (see IBO 6/15/13). Bruker is the leader in FT-ICR systems. Both Thermo and Bruker are leading vendors for ion trap MS systems as well.

Demand for TOF LC/MS is forecast to increase 8.5% in 2014, fueled by solid growth in demand for Q-TOF MS systems. Vendors continue to create system enhancements that drive interest from current users, who want the latest technology. However, demand for TOF LC/MS systems is expected to be relatively modest for the year. Waters and AB SCIEX lead the market for TOF LC/MS.

MALDI-TOF MS demand is forecast to increase 7.8% in 2014 due to growing use by clinical labs. Bruker is the market leader.

Magnetic sector MS, and portable and in-field MS systems represent the smallest segments of the total MS market, with about 3% and 2% of the market, respectively. Magnetic sector MS have largely been relegated to niche applications. As a result, this market is forecast to continue to decline this year, with demand driven mainly by service. The portable and in-field MS market is expected to rebound from last year’s lackluster performance and grow 9.3% this year. INFICON and FLIR Systems lead this market.