Triple quadrupole LC/MS has established itself as the leading MS technique, as it can provide extremely accurate quantitation of trace level compounds in almost any type of sample. This has made it popular across a diverse range of industries and applications. Despite the size and relative maturity of the market, competitors have continued to enter the market.

Triple quadrupole LC/MS is particularly good for low level quantitation of known compounds in complex liquid-phase samples because of its tandem configuration of quadrupole mass analyzers, which can selectively scan or filter for ions of interest.

As with other MS technologies, pharmaceutical applications account for the largest industrial demand for triple quadrupole LC/MS, which is used for pharmacokinetic, metabolism, and other drug discovery and development applications. Demand from the hospital/clinical industry for triple quadrupole LC/MS, which includes both research and diagnostics applications, has shown the strongest growth recently and will continue to be the most significant driver of the market in the near term. Unlike most other MS technologies, demand from the applied markets, including agriculture, food and environmental testing, has become important and combined accounts for around $100 million in sales.

AB SCIEX (formerly Applied Biosystems) has long been the leader in triple quadruple LC/MS. The company greatly boosted what was an already strong position in the market when it introduced the Q-Trap system in the early 2000s. It currently holds well over 50% vendor share. Waters has also long been a major competitor in the market. Thermo Fisher Scientific has also had a strong presence, but has been more focused on its ion trap LC/MS, Orbitrap MS and Exactive MS product lines.

While these three companies dominated the triple quadrupole LC/MS market for many years, the competitive landscape has become more crowded. Agilent entered the fray in 2006 and quickly captured the number two position, largely because of its reputation for rugged, reliable, routine instrumentation. In 2010, Shimadzu launched its first triple quadrupole LC/MS and has introduced several more since, building up a significant vendor share. Bruker is the most recent of the major MS suppliers to enter the market, leveraging technology it acquired from Agilent (see IBO 3/15/10). However, Bruker did not begin shipping its system until the last quarter of 2012, and will likely to achieve a several percentage share of the market in 2013.

The triple quadrupole LC/MS market is worth more than three-quarters of a billion dollars and accounts for close to 20% of the total MS market. Despite this size, it has grown by mid-single digits annually in a slow growing global economy. Demand should grow by mid-single digits in 2013, and double digit growth is quite likely for 2014.

Triple Quadrupole LC/MS

at a Glance:

Leading Suppliers

• AB SCIEX (Danaher)

• Agilent Technologies

• Waters

Largest Markets

• Pharmaceutical

• CROs

• Hospital/Clinical

Instrument Cost

• $200,000–$500,000