The pH meters market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 3% over the forecast period from 2016 to 2024. pH meters are used to measure the oxidation/reduction and the acidity/alkalinity potential in various parameters in laboratory, water and wastewater treatment, chemicals and petrochemicals, pharmaceutical and several other applications.
pH meters are mostly used in water treatment plants, power plants, mining sector, oil & gas industry, chemical processing industry, food & beverage industry and pharmaceutical industries which together constitute the market. Availability of low-cost, easy-to-operate along-with growing food & environmental concerns and surging healthcare expenditure are major factors driving the market growth. Highly reliable and accurate pH meter with reduced level of maintenance is also anticipated to be major growth factor.
Researchers utilize pH meters in a wide range of research fields—including biological and chemical, agricultural and environmental, and virtually all kinds of manufacturing owing to broad use of technology related expanded features of pH meters. Growing safety concerns owing to harmful effects on quality of goods produced in industrial setups is further providing impetus to the market. The stereoscopic analysis technology segment is expected to grow at highest rate owing to wide array of applications that require high precision and accuracy, such as drug testing, food and beverage testing, environmental testing, academics and research.
Food science industry contributed 40% revenue and also held majority of the pH meters market share. Large application area in industries such as fruit juice & food processing, wine, agriculture, dairy and others are significant drivers of the market.
Increasing number of research and testing laboratories such as water testing, food testing and soil testing laboratories are also one of the factors, expected to boost demand in the market. However, difficulty to measure pH of solutions with low ion concentration, damage due to certain solutions and growth of bacteria and contamination are few factors restraining pH meters market growth.
The market is segmented on the basis of product segment, end-use and region.
pH meter product segment includes portable and on-line equipment, along-with benchtop type segment. Portable devices are specialized to measure pH accurately, easy to carry and operate with reliable performance for long hours. Small size and high mobility of these meters is one of the key factors attributing to its rapid growth. Inline or online meters are suitable for medicine manufacturing units, water treatment plants, power plants, laboratory purpose and best suited for utilization in harsh environments.
On the basis of end-use, market is further segmented into biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, environmental testing, food and beverage, academic and governmental institutions. Food & beverage industry is the largest consumer of the market owing to increasing regulations for consumer safety. Technological improvement such as multi-parameter analysis and incorporation of smart sensors in pH meters are expected to be the factors driving the market over the forecast period.
Analysis of water pH level to prevent from corrosions in pipelines, growing awareness regarding the quality of drinking water and equipment such as the condenser, boilers is expected to boost industrial usage of pH meters.
North America is the largest consumer of pH meters owing to the presence of major key players increasing market share. U.S market share is significant owing to popularity across various application areas clubbed with governmental guidelines on water intensive industries. United States environmental protection agency (EPA) imposed stringent regulations on water treatment plants in order to reduce pollutants. Benchtop products owing to high demand in industrial research, laboratories, and research institutes dominated the regional industry.
Rising environmental, food and drug safety concerns is expected to surge demand in Asia Pacific region. Applications of novel, measuring devices among agricultural scientists, industrial researchers, experts and surging awareness about technologically advanced sensors are likely factors enabling market growth. Awareness concerning pollution & waste water treatment is further expected to boost demand in the region.
Presence of industrial infrastructure, sophisticated advanced healthcare, and high degree of R&D activities, health concerns, and awareness relating to waterborne diseases contributed to demand for pH meters in Europe, highest revenue generating region for pH meter.
Benchtop product is expected to lose share in the coming years owing to rising adoption of multi-parameter analysis instruments. Significance of continuous pH value monitoring in industrial processes is expected to drive online pH meter demand in the market.
Global principal manufacturers of pH meters include Hanna Instruments, Danaher Corporation, Agilent Technologies, Thermo Fisher Scientific Corporation, Metrohm USA, Mettler Toledo, Horiba and PerkinElmer.
Hanna instruments, one of the leading manufacturers, introduced HI2202 edgeblu pH meter which connects wirelessly to pH electrodes with bluetooth smart technology clubbing elements of a portable and benchtop meter into a single seamless design.
