The lab equipment market, as defined by IBO, consists of eight categories of techniques. The overall market totaled nearly $2.5 billion in 2011. With a 2012 growth rate of more than 4%, the market is expected to increase by $100 million by the end of 2012.

While laboratory equipment of various types is found in nearly all laboratories across different industries, its use is especially heavy in labs with applications in the life sciences. Therefore, the overall market growth and direction is heavily influenced by trends in academia, biotech and pharmaceutical labs, the top three end-user markets, which represent the majority of the lab equipment sales.

Thermo Fisher Scientific is the market leader in the laboratory equipment market with a 2011 market share of 25%. The company is the leader in many lab equipment segments, such as centrifuges, incubators, fume hoods and biological safety cabinets. Beckman Coulter’s 10% market share stems from its centrifuge business. Life Technologies, Eppendorf and Sartorius are the remaining three companies on the list of the market’s top five vendors. Each of these vendors has a market share of 5% or less.

Lab centrifuges accounted for nearly $800 million in sales in 2011. However, the segment’s 2012 sales growth is expected to be more than one percentage point slower than the overall market for lab equipment. While the sales growth for initial systems is expected to be even less than the growth rate for the total lab equipment market, the lab centrifuge aftermarket segment, comprised mainly of rotors, will drive sales in 2012. Thermo and Beckman Coulter, a Danaher company, are the top two vendors of laboratory centrifuges, combining for over 60% of the market.

The transfection segment, which includes electroporation equipment, lipofection products and viral vectors, is predominantly aftermarket based. Consequently, 2012 sales growth is expected to be 8.5% and will be driven heavily by the wide array of siRNA kits that are available. The 2011 lab equipment market share for transfection products was approximately 16%, or $395 million. Life Technologies and Roche Applied Sciences dominate the transfection market, with a combined market share of more than 50%.

The Extraction techniques segment, which had 2011 revenues of $330 million, is expected to post sales growth slightly lower than the overall lab equipment market in 2012. The technologies in this market are solid phase extraction, liquid-liquid extraction, accelerated solvent extraction and digestion. Nearly two-thirds of this segment’s revenues are derived from aftermarket sales.

Incubators and fume hoods are each had market shares of 9.5% in 2011, while biological safety cabinets had an 8.4% market share. The 2012 sales growth rate for incubators and biological safety cabinets is expected to be 2.1% and 2.4%, respectively. The fume hoods segment should experience faster sales growth due to new lab construction in Asia. Thermo is the market leader in all of these technology segments. Sanyo Bioscience, Kewaunee Scientific and NuAire are the next largest vendors for these respective technology segments, but their respective market shares are significantly less than those of Thermo.

Fermentors and bioreactors accounted for 5.3% of the lab equipment market last year. In 2012, sales are expected to increase 4.6%. Microwave-assisted chemistry systems made up 5.4% of the market last year. In 2012, sales of these systems are estimated to grow in the mid-single digits.

 Bar Graph: 2010 –2013 Selected Laboratory Equipment Market

               2010    2011    2012    2013

 $ Millions   2,365   2,462   2,562   2,661

 Lab Equipment Market Leaders

 Centrifuges                   Thermo Fisher Scientific, Danaher

 Transfection                  Life Technologies, Roche

 Extraction Techniques         Agilent, Waters

 Incubators                    Thermo Fisher Scientific, Sanyo

 Fume Hoods                    Thermo, Kewaunee Scientific

 Biological Safety Cabinets    Thermo Fisher Scientific, NuAire

 Fermentors, Bioreactors       Sartorius, Eppendorf

 Microwave-Assisted Chemistry  CEM, Biotage

 Pie Chart: 2011 Lab Equipment Market by Product Type

 Initial Systems    55%

 Aftermarket        37%

 Service             8%

 Lab Equipment 2011–2012

                          2011 Market Share   2012 Growth Rate

 Centrifuges                    32.4%               3.0%

 Transfection                   16.0%               8.4%

 Extraction Techniques          13.4%               3.9%

 Incubators                      9.5%               2.1%

 Fume Hoods                      9.5%               3.4%

 Biological Safety Cabinets      8.4%               2.4%

 Fermentors, Bioreactors         5.3%               4.6%

 Microwave-Assisted Chemistry    5.4%               4.5%

 Total 100.0% 4.1%

 Pie Chart: 2011 Lab Equipment Suppliers’ Market Shares

 Thermo             25%

 Danaher            10%

 Life Technologies   5%

 Eppendorf           4%

 Sartorius           3%

 Other              53%