Another year, another Pittcon. The analytical instrument industry’s premier trade show and exhibit has lost some of its luster in recent years due to declining attendance and competition from more focused shows and technical conferences. This year, Pittcon took place the same month as Analytica, Europe’s leading lab instrument show. Held in Orlando, Florida, it was far from any major US cities. And, with the US economy slowly recovering, instrument companies and customers alike remain cautious about spending.

How did Pittcon fare? Not well. Preliminary final attendance figures indicate that total attendance declined 11.5% to 16,836 (see graph, page 11). Conferee attendance (excluding exhibitors, students and media) was 9,593, down 11.4%. When Pittcon was last held in Orlando in 2006, total attendance was 19,872, but the number of conferees was over 9,900. Thus, the figures are not as bad as they first appear. Nonetheless, an Orlando show clearly hurt attendance, a fact that vendors acknowledged, resulting in a smaller presence for some of them. Despite this, Pittcon will return to Orlando in 2012.

In an effort to improve the show, this year, Pittcon scheduled three hours of dedicated exposition time, displayed posters on the exhibit floor, instituted outreach efforts to Latin America and Florida’s life science community, and continued to strengthen the technical program. Vendors with which IBO spoke applauded the efforts, but showed little enthusiasm for Orlando and looked forward to the Philadelphia show in 2013.

The number of companies exhibiting declined 5.9% to 947. Nonetheless, there were plenty of new products on display and many press conferences. A number of companies chose Pittcon to unveil new products. However, it appeared that other vendors held back some product introductions for Analytica. On the exhibit floor, it was obvious that less space was devoted to exhibits. The number of booths declined 11.2% to 1,997 this year. Also, some companies had smaller booths than last year. In addition, more space in the exhibit hall was devoted to seating areas.

Companies were positive in their press conferences and conversations with IBO about current business prospects. Customer focus was a theme, whether through an emphasis on service, product introductions that add clear value, or demonstrations of reduced cost of ownership. In addition, the emphasis on select markets such as food safety, UHPLC, MS, and applications development suggested increasing competition in these growth segments.

IBO spoke with top executives at Thermo Fisher Scientific, Agilent and PerkinElmer. Greg Herrema, president of Analytical Instruments and Scientific Instruments at Thermo, discussed the growth opportunities that Thermo sees for portable instrumentation. He also described Thermo’s Lean Lab program, which is designed to standardize a lab‘s equipment and instruments and provide service and support for large labs. Asked about international opportunities outside of China and India, he highlighted Brazil and Singapore.

Mike McMullen, president of Agilent’s Chemical Analysis Group, discussed the company’s investment in food testing, which includes technical collaborations and applications development with key thought leaders. He also told IBO that Agilent is running a pilot program in the US for certified used equipment. He noted that the many new products at Pittcon indicates the industry’s health and long-term growth prospects.

John Roush, president of PerkinElmer Environmental Health, explained that the company purchased its ICP-MS joint venture (see IBO 2/28/10) because the market now requires a more agile, solutions-based approach and that the joint-venture structure had became cumbersome. He also emphasized the company’s solutions-based approach, which targets customers exposed to testing requirements for the first time.

Next year’s Pittcon will be held March 13–18 in Atlanta, Georgia, where, in 1997, the exhibition spanned two halls.

Chart: Pittcon Participants

Conferees Total Attendance

2008 10214 19536

2009 10823 19018

2010* 9593 16836