Abstract
Breakthrough technology in microscopy brings advancements that provide
customers with the power to discover things they have never seen before, and
to solve problems never before solvable.
Microscope markets are segmented as optical microscopes, electron microscopes,
scanning probe microscopes, and focused ion beam microscopy. Optical
microscopes are light microscopes. The optical microscope is limited in the
minimum size and nature of the features it can resolve by manufacturability
constraints and the physics of light. While optical microscopes once accounted
for the bulk of all microscopes sold in the world, today their percentage of
total revenue is shrinking.
New microscopy technologies have been developed to overcome the limitations of
light microscopes. Electron, scanning probe, and focused ion beam microscopy
are essential aspects of different approaches to visualization at the
nanoparticle level. The field of microscopy continues to evolve rapidly, as
new requirements and imaging technologies are developed.
Technology integration, marking the convergence of information technology and
digital imaging, is expected to change standard laboratories into advanced
research centers. Current innovations in the microscopy industry are towards
development of microscopes with higher precision and resolution. Developments
in image restoration, reconstruction, and other related fields will continue
to influence the industry.
Innovations in electronics, engineering and industrial materials permit the
industry to effectively overcome conventional barriers, allowing new systems
to evolve based on new technologies.
Custom-assembled systems are based on modular approaches to product delivery.
Platforms are implemented as frameworks that accept any of a variety of
modules. In this manner customization is supported in the microscope industry.
These custom-assembled systems enable end users incorporate existing workflow.
The microscope markets are driven by the need for research facilities to
attract the most qualified researchers. The best researchers are attracted to
good equipment. They will move to where the best equipment is. For enterprises
and universities to land and hang on to leading researchers, they have to
upgrade their equipment or those people are gone in a year.
The research and industrial use of imaging has shifted rapidly with the
increasing significance of nanotechnology. To look at particles on the
nano-scale requires increased sophistication and use of more expensive imaging
equipment. This means that fewer organizations can afford the imaging
equipment needed to stay competitive and that those organizations that can
afford the very expensive imaging equipment will tend to be quite large.
Nanotechnology funding at $8.5 billion in 2008 is anticipated to increase
rapidly as countries respond ot the economic meltdown. Every dollar invested
in nanotechnology research turns $5 in tax dollars within a year and continues
to provide that level of taxes for the next 20 to 50 years. This is a very
good investment.
Countries are learning that they need to compete at a level of industrial
development in the new global economy. The financial meltdown represents at
its core the disintegration of national boundaries in the traditional sense.
In its place are global enterprises based in a particular country, providing
tax dollars to that base nation.
In this global economy, innovation is central. Innovation is based on software
systems that improve productivity. Software is used to manage information and
make it more accessible. Innovation improves enterprise and business decision
making. Nanotechnology and electron microscopes are a central aspect of this
global initiative.
FEI has had a momentum in the microscope research markets unmatched by any
competitor. The wins in the research market are significant because the
nanotechnology techniques being developed there will work for another
generation, driving markets in every segment as the research in nanotechnology
being conducted now provides technology that will flow out into industry and
government at a rapid pace.
FEI Company (Nasdaq:FEIC) high-resolution imaging and analysis system
Titan(3(TM)) 80-300 scanning/transmission electron microscope (S/TEM)
competitive win in the National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) and
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) of Saudi Arabia
bring enormous opportunity to the company.
Nanoparticles are so tiny that good technology is a basic part of the
industry. The best researchers prefer the FEI technology, giving the company
significant competitive advantage.
IBM has extended 3D MRI to the Nanoscale. IBM Research (NYSE: IBM) scientists,
in collaboration with the Center for Probing the Nanoscale at Stanford
University, have demonstrated magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with volume
resolution 100 million times finer than conventional MRI.
Microscope market forecasts indicate that markets at $3.5 billion in 2008 are
anticipated to reach $7.7 billion by 2015. Growth is stimulated by worldwide
government investment in innovation in response to the meltdown of financial
markets.
Research Methodology
WinterGreen Research authors use a structured, consistent, and detailed
research approach. The methodology supports an analytical approach to market
research. In depth comparisons are made of many aspects of the market. Data
relating to Industry segments is developed to permit presentation of forecasts
and market share positioned to have substantive value.
Research has been automated using automation of interactive surveys that
implement delta trend analysis and instant messaging in combination with
e-mail. Automation is made possible because of a proprietary engine that
implements multilayered cell based analysis. Modular systems support dynamic
computing that use a graphical configuration engine to reach more people in a
research modality.
Full spectrum research and information services, including market reports,
customized research, and customer interviewing are available, reports and
research are positioned to provide strategic value to industry participants,
strategic planners, and product managers.
New systems combine sales tools and independent industry analysis, seeking to
leverage the expertise of the sales force and combine it with the skepticism
of the analysts to provide accurate return on investment analysis.
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