Acetic Anhydride

Acetic anhydride, one of the simplest forms of acid anhydrides, is widely used as a reagent in organic synthesis. 

Colorless and pungent, it is majorly in demand in the cigarette industry and is also used for a wide variety of applications in a number of others such as agrochemicals, beverages, aromatics and pharmaceuticals.

The industry has been growing at an annual pace of about 4 per cent since 2007 fuelled mainly by China that has invested heavily in capacities for production. During 2007-2012, China alone grew at a pace of close to 20 per cent. Several manufacturers from across the globe have moved to China for acetic anhydride production due to cheaper labour and manufacturing cost.      

Cellulose acetate flakes, majorly used in cigarettes, consume acetic anhydride and are in turn used for various elements in the industry. During 2012, 62 per cent of acetic anhydride produced globally was used for manufacture of cellulose acetate flake.

Similarly, acetic anhydride is also used for production of tetraacetylethylenediamine (TAED) used as a bleach activator in laundry detergents as also for manufacturing polytetramethylene ether glycol that is used for spandex production.

North America is the largest market for acetic anhydride due to high demand for cellulose acetate and from the pharmaceutical industry. But stringent environmental restrictions have resulted in a decrease in demand here. On the other hand, the Asia-Pacific region is emerging as the fastest growing market for acetic anhydride owing to increased demand from end-users.

India is touted to be one of the best placed market for acetic anhydride due to an increased demand by pharmaceutical, polymer and textile markets, final users of acetic anhydride.

Globally, the pharmaceutical industry was responsible for greater than 9.5 per cent of consumption of acetic anhydride in 2012 and is set to increase, especially in the Asia-Pacific region.

China, Japan and India are among the countries with the highest demand for acetic anhydride. Middle East too is estimated to be a big market for acetic anhydride due to demand from the pharmaceutical industry while the rest of the world is expected to have a stable demand for it.

So whether you want to invest in the acetic anhydride market or are considering using it in your industry as a reagent, take an informed decision by commissioning Occams to do an in-depth research for you.

 

Foray of Apple in Mobile payments with ‘Apple Pay’

There is a rapid growth in mobile payments with the introduction of user-friendly mobiles and better mobile network connectivity. People do not want to keep a money wallet but are keen to carry a mobile phone, which makes mobile phones a must-have device even in the developing countries.

We use mobile phones to perform variety of functions from entertainment to photography to work and now making payments from mobile phones by storing money into them. Many technology companies have entered the mobile payments market.

Apple is the latest company to enter in this ocean of opportunity with its mobile payments offering “Apple pay”. Apple has equipped its much awaited IPhone 6 and IPhone 6 Plus with Near Field Communication (NFC) technology to allow its users to pay at point of sales (POS) terminals with Near Field Communication technology just using their IPhone.

According to reports mobile payment through NFC is one of the most advanced technologies that have made payments truly mobile. If you want to make payment by mobile you just need a phone equipped with NFC like IPhone 6 on which you can load money through your bank account or credit card and after this  your phone is ready to be used as a money wallet.

Rising concern related to security of the payment and data has been taken care of as the ‘Apple Pay’ platform is almost difficult to break. ‘Apple Pay’ can be accessed only when the customer scans his fingerprints on the mobile screen and to secure the transaction process Apple Pay will use a PIN which is unique for each transaction performed on it and does not store any information related to transaction, this will remove the chance of information stealing.

The entry of Apple has made the mobile payment market very competitive; however, the market is huge and opportunities in terms of more sophisticated technology. Also, the emerging economies are a huge market for mobile payments as a large population is under-banked in these economies but they do own smart phones, the prices of which have reduced considerably.

Occams Business Research has done an in-depth study on the Mobile Payments Market outlining opportunities across the globe and a forecast of the revenues in the Mobile Payments Market through 2020.

 

Where the future lies- Artificial Pancreas Device’

Diabetes has seen such an exponential rise in last two decades which is not less than an epidemic. 11% of global health expenditure goes in the treatment and diagnosis of diabetes and diabetes related ailments. Global diabetic care market is worth $44 billon and it is expected to go beyond $100 billion by 2025. Diabetes innovation has seen great milestones, from the humulin to the insulin pumps and the continuous glucose monitoring system. Now the next milestone is the artificial pancreas devices (APD’s). APD is an integrated system which combines the insulin pump technology and CGM technology. It is going to be developed as an automatic insulin delivery system and a revolutionary device as a great relief for diabetic patients..

The device is still under development and has lot of problems. One of the basic part of the device CGM is still not accurate. Accuracy issues can lead to great problem considering the APD are going to be automated.  An error free device is the only way by which APD is going to approved by FDA.  However, FDA has shown willingness in the development of APD. They have laid down guidelines and are keen to approve a device that can lead to a revolutionary change in the diabetic care market.

Manufactures need to think about the devices not just from the business perspective but also from humanitarian view. They need to blood in more money to increase the pace of their research. Delay and accuracy issues need to be resolved and a non invasive device should be developed. This is going to take the business to a new height and will change the lives of millions.

Artificial pancreas where the future lays!

Occams Business Research has done an in-depth study on the Continuous Glucose Monitoring Market outlining opportunities across the globe and a forecast of the revenues in the Continuous Glucose Monitoring through 2020.

 

ATM Industry Trends 2013-2018

Automated Teller Machines; they’ve made our busy lives so much simpler.

Over the past couple of decades, the ATMs have taken banking in the urban sector to a new level. However, the rural levels have trailed behind in this respect. In order to change this fact, the Reserve Bank of India has introduced White Label ATMs in the areas which require the push. These are ATMs which aren’t pertaining to any particular bank, hence the name; White Label ATM. This introduction has penetrated the ATM industry market in such a way, that it has become a major reason for the growth in this industry.

In the last five years, i.e., from 2008 to 2013, the ATM industry has grown at the rate of over 25%. India alone has over 100,000 ATMs installed all over the country. The private banks hold over 70% of the share of the ATMs over the country, and public banks are the remaining shareholders.
Globally, the ATM market is expected to see a rise of over 40% by the year 2018; the total number of ATMs across the world is expected to touch over 47 million by 2018. The countries contributing to this growth will mainly be from Asia-Pacific, Africa, and the Middle-East. Europe and North America are expected have a comparatively slower growth curve, on account of being a lot more developed than the former regions already.

This industry is definitely looking at a steady growth rate.

Want to be part of the ATM revolution? Commission Occams to do an in-depth research to understand your options for the market. 

 

BIOCIDES

Biocides are chemicals, either naturally occurring or synthetically created, used for treating and controlling infections. The most common application of biocides is water treatment. The biocide market is expected to grow significantly in the foreseeable future due to an increase in water treatment requirements in industries and homes, a spurt in population and growing applications like paints and coatings.

Research pegs the biocides market to grow at a CAGR of 5 % over the next six years, increasing the size of the market to around USD 11 million by 2020.North America, essentially the United States and Canada, is the largest market for biocides and expected to dominate the global scene, accounting for more than 40 per cent of the world market. The Asia Pacific region is however expected to be the fastest growing regional market with a CAGR close to 6.5 per cent from 2014 to 2020.

Among biocides, halogen compounds dominate the market and accounted for 27 per cent of global revenue of the 2013 market and are likely to dominate the market all the way up to 2020 contributing to more than 25 per cent of total revenue.Phenolic biocides and water treatment application are expected to be the fastest growing segment of biocides from 2014 to 2020. Natural biocides are also a promising segment.

Have more questions on the biocide industry? Commission Occams to do an in-depth research based on your specific requirements.

 

Bio-Degradable Polymers

The green wave, essentially aimed at encouraging using environment friendly products, has ensured that the biodegradable polymer market, sees significant growth, supposedly its largest so far. It is estimated that the demand for biodegradable polymers will grow from about 270 metric tonnes in 2012 to nearly twice in 2017 pointing to a growth of nearly 15 per cent during that period.Mainly driven by packaging, the biodegradable polymer segment is expected to also see exponential growth in the fibers segment.

Europe is by far the leading market for biodegradable polymers due to a highly aware citizenry as well as stringent environmental regulations. North America comes next followed closely by regions from the Asia Pacific region such as Japan and China.Manufacturers looking for environment-friendly options are finding biodegradable polymers offering dual benefits of being sustainable as well as almost as cost-effective as petroleum-based products.Fuelled by growing consumer awareness and regulations across several countries on solid waste disposal and recycling, the biodegradable polymer market is seeing a tremendous spurt in growth. Technological advancements and emerging applications of biopolymers will also positively impact the growth of the market.  

Want to be part of the green revolution? Commission Occams to do an in-depth research to understand your options for the market. 

 

BIOPLASTICS: NEED OF THE HOUR

The term bioplastic is used for the plastic derived from bio-based materials or renewable bio-material. There are different types of bioplastics available in the market and these bioplastics have a wide range of applications such as film packaging, bottle packaging, automobiles, electronics, agriculture, consumer goods, healthcare and many more.

How these bioplastics are different from conventional plastic? Why do we need bioplastics if we already have different material for similar use? What are the raw materials used to manufacture these bioplastics? These are some basic questions that come to mind when we talk about the bioplastics.

It is difficult to differentiate between bioplastics and petroleum based plastics. Texture and appearance of bioplastics is similar to the regular plastics; however, there are significant differences between both:

·         Regular plastics are made from fossil fuel, which is limited in nature while bioplastics are made from renewable sources, which are abundant

·         Regular plastics are not biodegradable while bioplastics are biodegradable in optimum condition

If we look around then we see plastic bags all over, when we go to a lake we see plastic bags floating around. These plastic bags are harming our ecosystem. Some plastics leach hazardous chemicals in the environment and therefore the urgent need to adopt biodegradable bioplastics. Bioplastics are mainly derived from food-starch, carbohydrates and cellulose which are ingredient in many food crops such as corn, sugarcane, cassva and potato. Byproduct in sugar manufacturing such as molasses can be used as raw material for the bioplastic production. Waste material such as beet root pulp, bagasse, wheat straw, banana peel and municipal waste (food waste) can be used for bioplastic production. Recently scientists have developed bioplastics from sewage water.

Of course we do not need bioplastics now as there is fossil fuel but what about the future? All our actions will affect the next generation so do we want our next generation to live in the polluted environment that we have created? Also, fossil fuel is limited in nature and demand and price are both increasing. In future there will be no fossil fuel so it’s better to save scarce resources. Though, we need to go a long way to replace 100% plastic by bioplastic; even 10% replacement will be a great achievement.

Occams Business Research has done an in-depth study on the Polylactic Acid Market, (main raw material for Bioplastics) outlining opportunities across the globe and a forecast of the revenues in the Polylactic Acid Market through 2020.

 

Continuous Glucose Monitoring Systems: The Problems and the Solutions

First decade of the 21^st century saw major technological breakthroughs. Landlines were replaced by cell phones and your dumb cell phones are replaced by the smart ones. Personal computers became more personal, lighter, faster, and sleeker. Books survived the wrath of eBooks. With all personal technologies becoming more personal and advanced the world of diabetes saw emergence of devices, which were considered as replacement for your personal finger based test meters and strips. Continuous Glucose Monitoring Systems (CGMS) are a part of the personal technologies of 21^st century. These smart devices are attached to your abdomen through a sensor and transmitter and wirelessly connected to a receiver. You sleep, you eat, you workout, you dance and you travel without the need of pricking your fingers. The smart device will inform you when you are LOW or HIGH (on glucose BTW)! Now you just have to prick yourselves once in a week or maybe two or more. Yes, these devices were designed to work and let you work with full freedom.

Well, sadly the case is not that much fun as it may sound. The devices are smart. But even smart people have faults and these devices also have some. Devices are less accurate and readings are not instant. Yes, they provide the solution as a real time glucose reading provider but not without the help of your traditional meters. The need for pricking your fingers is still there. The authorities and patients are skeptical about these devices, well with a decreasing rate though.

Acceptance is increasing but if the issues are not met with the devices may face a decline in the popularity. Companies must target to bring the percentage error down significantly. The dream of creating an artificial pancreas can only become a reality if the CGMS turn more accurate. The next step should be the non-invasive durable sensors. Diabetic patients’ face issues related to pain due to decreased immunity and metabolism of the body. If a non-invasive sensor is developed it would be the catalyst, which will increase the growth rate. The non-invasive sensors may have a longer life since they will not be completely in contact with body fluids, which reduce the quality and efficiency of sensors after a period of time. Sensors are the most important part of CGMS devices and if they are improved the CGM market will exponentially grow as compared to the traditional devices market.Government bodies, WHO, research institutes and NGOs must come forward to help this cause. Probably the day is not far when we will see the launch of the ARTIFICAIL PANCREAS!      

Occams Business Research has done an in-depth study on Continuous Glucose Monitoring Systems Market outlining opportunities across the globe and a forecast of the revenues in the Continuous Glucose Monitoring Systems Market through 2020.

 

Cloud Computing Market

What is cloud computing?

In simple words, a network server over a personal computer.

In cloud computing, a number of applications, or devices are run from a server network or multiple servers instead of using a personal computer, or laptop, or tablet, or phone. This network will be connected via the internet, Local Area Network (LAN), Wide Area Network (WAN), or intranet. Cloud services can be made available on a public or private network.

Some of the more prominent providers of Cloud Computing, commonly known as ‘the cloud’, are Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and IBM amongst others.

One of the biggest plus points of the cloud is that it is efficient in sharing information. It is quick, and it gets the job done. People are able to access whatever they need from wherever they please. It is a responsive industry as well; the difficulties that companies began experiencing switching to the cloud a couple of years ago are already obsolete. The few difficulties that have been observed, such as a lapse of security in a common network, have been addressed and are being tackled. In fact, cloud vendors are even working to make the cloud tailored to the specific needs of the companies which are their customers.

By the year 2015, the cloud computing market is said to hit the $100 billion mark for certain. It would see an approximate growth of 37% from 2010, when it was a $37 billon market. It is a fast growing and progressive market.

Cloud Computing - From Exploding Data to a Refined Strategy….

A single portal and you can manage everything from network and storage to computing data center functions. Cloud Computing has given a new edge to enterprises by providing scalability and high performance while reducing the cost of capital expenditure.

The World Wide Web era has witnessed remarkable changes in the business world. Enterprises are actively seeking to explore new opportunities with the developing information technology. The latest one is data driven marketing to which almost every business especially those in e-commerce are subscribing to. However, every opportunity comes with a new challenge. So, here also a major challenge before the businesses is to manage huge volume of data generated from various marketing engagements such as social media ( Facebook, Twitter and Google+), company’s private web portal and so on. Thus, here comes the role of the hero of our story, “Cloud Computing.”

Cloud Computing is a set of services, which include storage, security, and analytics that enable businesses to manage their big data more efficiently and enable them for effective decision-making. Today, businesses have become customer-centric, thus most of the business strategies are made keeping customer demand in mind. Through database marketing companies track their customer data and analyze it to derive real-time insights and this has transformed the company’s customer engagement programs. Thus, cloud computing helps businesses develop an effective business strategy from a flood of data.

The global cloud computing market for 2013 was $90 billion. The enterprise cloud revenue reached around $25 billion in 2013 with $10 billion generated from SaaS-based applications only. In fact, cloud providers are mostly focusing on developing cloud solutions for different business functions such as CRM cloud, marketing Cloud, sales Cloud, HR Cloud and so on. Also, efforts made by cloud vendors for resolving security concerns generate an extreme positive growth in enterprise cloud solutions. The tremendous growth of enterprise cloud can be clearly recognized by the fact that the world’s biggest cloud vendor Salesforce.com generates over half of its total revenue from SaaS-based CRM solutions.

Occams Business Research has done an in-depth study on the Cloud Computing Market outlining opportunities across the globe and a forecast of the revenues in the Cloud Computing Market through 2020.