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Lab balances, electrochemistry equipment, radioactivity systems, dissolution testing products, and continuous flow and discrete analyzers make up the General Analytical Techniques (GAT) market segment. These technologies have little to do with each other but are common components of most laboratories. The GAT market is forecast to be $2.2 billion in 2018 and set to grow modestly at 2.4%.

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Electrochemistry and lab balances combined makeup the majority of the market at nearly 80% of total demand. These two technologies are often found in laboratories as ISE/pH meters and analytical balances, respectively. Both technologies should experience sales growth close to average for the GAT market due to their ubiquity in laboratories across nearly all industries.

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An essential part of bringing drugs to market, dissolution testing is likely to experience above average growth. Demand for this technology should grow as the biopharmaceutical sector continues to perform well worldwide. Discrete analyzers and Continuous Flow Analyzers (CFA) are often used for environmental, agricultural and food testing. Demand is expected to grow in the future as places like China and India introduce more government regulations covering their domestic industries and environmental requirements.

Commonly used with life science molecules tagged with radioactive isotopes, radioactivity equipment is set to experience a slight sales decline as companies look for other ways to achieve the same analysis without the need for radiation.

With over a quarter of the GAT market, Mettler-Toledo has the largest market share, offering both lab balances and electrochemistry products. Competing with Mettler-Toledo in the same technology segments, Sartorius is the only other company with a double-digit market share. Thermo Fisher Scientific, with 8% of the market, is a major supplier of CFAs and discrete analyzers. Hach (Danaher), Metrohm and Xylem, each with 6% of the market, are all suppliers of electrochemistry products. Other companies in the GAT market, such as Agilent Technologies and PerkinElmer, focus only on one technology segment.

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