The technologies in this category are primarily used to determine the elemental composition of samples, since they analyze at the atomic level. The total market demand for atomic spectroscopy is forecast to grow 5.8% for 2014, reaching $3.67 billion. The largest individual product segment is X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF), which makes up more than a quarter of the market demand. Growth for 2014 in XRF will remain sluggish, but the XRF market will still perform better than it did last year. While XRF has grown rapidly over the past decade, the application mix has shifted toward the safety testing of consumer products for hazardous elements. That portion of the market has been weakened by the general slowdown in the economy and contributes to the less-than-average growth for the technology. PANalytical (Spectris) is the leader in XRF, and its high-end research products should fare even better in the coming year. Thermo Fisher Scientific derives a large part of its business from handheld XRF, which is more associated with quality control and safety testing applications.

X-ray diffraction spectroscopy (XRD) is the second-largest segment, making up almost 17% of the total atomic spectroscopy market. This market is forecast to achieve the fastest growth in the category for 2014, gaining just over 10%. Unlike most of the techniques in atomic spectroscopy, XRD has strong applications in life science research. As such, it was negatively affected by the decline in government and academic spending last year. However, the technology is poised to rebound with strong growth in 2014. Rigaku and Bruker are the top two vendors in this area.

Atomic absorbance (AA) and inductively coupled plasma spectroscopy (ICP) each represent about 13% of total atomic spectroscopy demand. AA is the oldest of the techniques and has long been one of the larger segments, but ICP will have the greater growth potential in 2014, soon clearly surpassing AA in size to become the third-largest market segment. PerkinElmer is the top vendor in both techniques, which are both commonly found in environmental applications. Although somewhat competitive, both techniques are used in a complementary fashion. ICP’s main advantage is speed, although it comes at a premium.

ICP can also be used with MS, and ICP-MS will be the second-fastest growing technology for 2014. ICP-MS is the most sensitive technique and is typically used for measuring trace quantities that cannot be detected by any other technique. ICP-MS has applications in both industrial water testing and in environmental testing. Agilent Technology is the market leader in ICP-MS.

Other techniques are generally forecast to experience low to mid-single digit growth for the year. Arc/spark spectroscopy, which is predominately used for metals analysis, is estimated to have the slowest growth potential in 2014, with a rate forecast at less than 2%, hampered by less investment in metals and mining activities.

The top six atomic spectroscopy vendors have a total market share of 60% and have all already been mentioned as leading in particular technologies. Spectro Analytical (AMETEK) is also a significant company in this market, with involvements in arc/spark, XRF and ICP spectroscopy. LECO is the leader in elemental analysis, while Shimadzu and GE Analytical Instruments are the market leaders in total organic carbon (TOC) and related sum-parameter instrumentation.