$10.3 Billion Cleanroom Market in 2011

Revenues for suppliers of cleanroom hardware and consumables will exceed $10.3 billion in 2011. This is the latest forecast in the McIlvaine continuously updated Clean-room World Markets report. The hardware revenues will be smaller than the consumables. Consumables revenues are steadily increasing, but hardware revenues follow the same peaks and valleys as do semiconductor, flat panel and medical device equipment revenues. The pharmaceutical industry is the one major hardware purchaser, which steadily increases purchases. Gloves are the single biggest consumable purchase. Wipes are the second. Reusable and disposable garments are equal in revenues but not in unit sales - far more disposable garments are purchased. There are many unique products manufactured for cleanroom operators and combined in the supplies category. They include disinfection and cleaning chemicals, mops, and even specially made pens suitable for cleanroom use.

Asia is both the largest and fastest growing region for both hardware and consumables. Nearly all the flat panel display cleanrooms are in Asia. China is the fastest growing semiconductor producer. The US has managed to stay ahead of Europe thanks to its early innovations, which created much of the electronic industry. The one area where Europe is a leader is in pharmaceuticals. The European pharmaceutical industry is a significant purchaser of cleanroom consumables ($220 million). This is greater than Asia, but less than the Americas. Europe is the leading centre of technology development. Many universities are devoting research to the subject. There are a number of publications devoted to the subject of cleanrooms. There are more than 50 conferences and exhibitions in Europe each year where there are significant numbers of cleanroom displays.

McIlvaine believes that future product selection and, therefore, market shares for specific suppliers will be substantially influenced by a concept known as ‘Knowledge Based Sales’. Cleanroom consumable purchasers tend to buy the lowest first cost product rather than the one with the lowest life cycle cost. If the knowledge level of the needs and the solutions is raised for both purchaser and supplier, then the best rather than cheapest product will be used.