Market Overview

The industrial x-ray inspection equipment and imaging software market is expected to witness a CAGR of 6.05% during the forecast period (2020-2025). A surge in demand from the aerospace and automotive sectors, largely due to conformance of high industry standards, safety regulations, mandating testing, and preventive maintenance, is boosting the adoption of equipment and imaging solutions.

  • A major evolution in the market over the past five years has been with respect to the integration of advanced computing and imaging capacities for advanced manipulation systems and automatic defect recognition software. These features have been incorporated through the use of graphics processing units (GPU) and high-performance computing techniques.
  • Further, with the evolution of digital X-ray variants, the price of equipment and operations has considerably gone down, enabling the rapid adoption of X-ray technologies in the manufacturing environments. Some of the initial industries that pioneered the use of X-ray inspection for quality control include the aerospace and defense and the semiconductor industry.
  • The oil and gas industry remains one of the most prominent industries in the market and is expected to retain its position over the forecast period. Asset protection of aging infrastructure, in contrast to new investments in equipment, due to the plummeting crude oil prices, is driving the radiography market in the oil and gas industry.
  • Owing to this, companies, such as Vidisco are expanding their product offerings for the oil industry mostly in the downstream sector. However, the upstream sector, as well as radiography technology, delivers highly efficient solutions to inspection needs for pressure vessels (pipes, boilers, valves) according to international standard ASME.



Scope of the Report

Industrial x-ray is a method of non-destructive testing where many types of manufactured components can be examined to verify the internal structure and integrity of the specimen.

Key Market Trends

Aerospace Segment is Expected to Hold a Significant Market Share

  • Depending on the type and the manufacturing process of the component being tested, and size and engineering requirements, primarily four radiography methods i.e., film, computed, direct, and real-time are used in the aerospace sector. X-ray inspection applications include the detection of internal defects in thick and complex shapes, and in metallic and non-metallic shapes, and the quality of critical aerospace components, structures, and assemblies.
  • The increasing emphasis on safety standards, decreasing service intervals, low emission targets, and the advent of new materials and process are the major factors driving the radiography market in the aerospace segment.
  • Conventional x-ray inspection systems are being increasingly replaced with digital systems in aerospace and the latter is expected to completely overshadow the market, except for some critical high-resolution imaging applications.
  • While the United States and Asia-Pacific have the largest demand for x-ray inspection in the aerospace sector, the increasing usage of aircrafts in the North African and Middle East (NEMA) region is also driving the use of x-ray equipment and imaging solutions.



Asia Pacific is Expected to Hold the Largest Market Share

  • Heightened global security threats and higher defense spending from major regional powers, such as China, India, and Japan, are likely to drive the global defense sector’s revenue growth. The region accounts for more than a fifth of the global defense budget and is expected to grow further.
  • In the automotive segment, Chinese production grew only moderately in 2018, reaching a total of 23.7 million passenger cars. China maintained its leading position in the industry among the global passenger car producers, accounting for 29% of all the cars produced around the world.
  • The Government of Japan is encouraging its energy companies to increase exploration and development projects around the world, due to low domestic production in the country, in order to secure a stable supply of oil and natural gas. Furthermore, the Japanese inspection market is very competitive and is experiencing stable growth due to the regulations.
  • Moreover, India has planned to invest in the indigenous Nuclear Power Program, by building 10 new reactors of 700 MWe. Also, the country is developing a Russian designed International Reactor in Kudankulam. This is providing an opportunity for the X-ray inspection vendors in the proliferating Indian nuclear energy market.



Competitive Landscape

The industrial x-ray inspection equipment and imaging software market is highly competitive owing to the presence of many small and large players. The market appears to be moderately concentrated and is moving towards the fragmented market, due to the decreasing initial investments required for manufacturing and reverse engineering. Some of the key players in the market include North Star Imaging Inc., General Electric Company, Nikon Corporation, YXLON International among others.

  • February 2019 - North Star Imaging Inc. to address the demand in the east coast-Boston area opened a facility for additional digital X-ray and computed tomography.
  • November 2018 - YXLON introduced YXLON FF35 CT computed tomography system, which is intended to attain extremely precise inspection results for a wide range of applications.



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