6. Industrial players in fluorescence microscopy

6.1 Sector structure

The main microscope manufacturers date back to the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, with no new brands appearing in the last hundred years. Among the reasons that have limited the emergence of new players are the very high levels of investment in research, development and production required, compared to a relatively small market volume. For example, Nikon Corporation's worldwide "scientific instruments" division accounts for just 5% of the brand's sales, and has generated negative operating income for the last three years (a deficit of 5 billion yen in 2013, according to information on the Nikon website).

In addition, the need for users to have a set of components - microscopes, cameras and peripherals -...