Author Archives: admin

Oil Drilling Rigs

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OilRigs

The rising demand for oil on the global scale has been an engine of growth for more than a decade for the oil and gas drilling equipment industry. Since 2005, in the United States alone, 1,538 newly constructed oil drilling rigs were brought into the market valued at approximately $53 billion. We offer a graphic that shows the number of rigs available in the U.S. market annually and the percent of utilization of those rigs for a fifty year period.

Today’s market size is the number of oil drilling rigs available to the market in 2012, of which 94% are land-based drills and 6% are drills for use in offshore applications.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2012
Market size: 3,006 oil drilling rigs
Source: “U.S. Rig Census Historical Data, 1955-2012,” National Oilwell VARCO Downhole’s 59th Annual Rig Census, November 2012, page 10, available online here.
Original source: IHS Drilling Data, RigData, ODS-Petrodata, and WorldOil.com
Posted on October 16, 2013

Commercial Airline Baggage Fees

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One of the ways airlines have found to raise revenue, while remaining competitive in the electronic marketplace for airline fares, is to charge separately for some services that were traditionally covered in the ticket price, such as meals, seat selection, and baggage handling. While U.S. airline revenue from baggage fees went up at a rate of 17.23% per year from 2007 through 2012 overall operating income rose over the same period at a rate of 2.14% annually.

Today’s market size is the total amount charged by all U.S. commercial airlines, annually, for fees associated with the handling of baggage.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2007 and 2012
Market size: $464 million and $3.486 billion respectively
Source: Martha C. White, “Airlines Cash In on Every Inch, Even the Jammed Bins Overhead,” The New York Times, October 11, 2013, page 1, available online here.
Original source: U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics
Posted on October 14, 2013

Cars in Europe

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Car1

The auto market in Europe is far from recovering from the sharp decline in sales that occurred after 2007 and the financial crisis that hit in 2008. Industry forecasts suggest that it has yet to bottom out and many projections have the industry selling fewer cars in 2020 than it did in 2007. Meanwhile, in the United States this year, the auto market is expected to reach 99.4% of the record sales reached in 2007, based on unit sales, assuming the dysfunction in the nation’s capital does not derail the economy.

Today’s market size is the number of cars sold in the European Union—plus Iceland, Norway and Switzerland—in 2007 (peak year for sales), 2013 (based on mid-year projections), and 2020 (forecast).

Geographic reference: European Union, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland
Year: 2007, 2013, 2020
Market size: 16.0 million, 12.1 million, and 14.8 million respectively
Source: “Automakers, Analysts Disagree On When Europe’s Sales Will Finally Rebound,” Automotive News Europe, August 8, 2013, available online here. Vanessa Fuhrmans, “Europe’s Car Makers Spin Their Wheels,” The Wall Street Journal, October 1, 2013, page A1.
Original source: IHS Automotive
Posted on October 10, 2013

Digital Ad Spending

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Measuring the world of advertising is tricky and when it comes to how much is spent on digital advertising, the task becomes harder yet. Part of the difficulty has to do with how one defines the market being measured, as is always the case when dealing with market sizes. But, in the case of an industry that is still forming and evolving, definitions are crucial. Clear definitions of what is being measured are not always provided by those reporting on these markets or those reporting on those reports. So use this market size data as a general guide to a market whose boundaries are a bit… fluid.

Today’s market size post is the size of the market for digital advertising based on two estimates of how much will be spent worldwide on digital advertising in 2013. The range presented is made up of the two estimates, sources for which are also provided. Worth noting is the fact that these estimates place spending on digital advertising at around one-fifth of the spending on all advertising.

Geographic reference: World
Year: 2013
Market size: $95 to $117 billion
Source: John Bussey, “When Google Brainstorms, The Online World Shudders,” Wall Street Journal, September 27, 2013, page B1. Michael Sebastian, “Ad Spending Forecast Revised Downward,” AdAge, August 14, 2013, available online here.
Original source: eMarketer and GroupM
Posted on October 9, 2013

Home Sales

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Housing

The residential housing market in the United States is beginning to show signs of recovery five years after the market crashed. While signs of recovery are there in the number of houses selling as well as the prices they are selling for, confidence in these signs appears to be weak and many in the real estate industry fear that a rise in interest rates could cause the housing market recovery to stall.

The graph shows home sales in the United States by number of new and existing homes sold annually. The percent of total sales made up of the sale of newly constructed homes is shown in red.

Today’s market size is the number and approximate value of newly constructed homes that were sold in 2005 (the peak year in terms of number of homes sold) and in 2012.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2005 and 2012
Market size: 1.283 million units for a value of $381.1 billion in 2005 and 364 thousand units in 2012 with a value of $107.5 billion
Source: “New Residential Sales, Historical Data,” U.S. Census Bureau, last updated on August 12, 2013, available online here.
Original source: U.S. Bureau of the Census and National Association of Realtors
Posted on September 30, 2013

Libraries

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Anyone who is truly interested in knowledge will be a friend of the library. Even in an age which defines itself as the “information age,” libraries play an essential role in society. In fact, based on U.S. library usage data from this century, that role is growing.

Today’s market size is the estimated total number of libraries in the United States. The largest category of library is the school library, which accounts for slightly over 80% of all libraries and does not include the academic library which is associated with higher education. The second largest category of library is the public library with a 7.5% share of the total.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2010
Market size: 119,987
Source: “Number of Libraries in the United States — ALA Library Fact Sheet 1,” American Library Association, August 2013, available online here.
Original source: The ALA web site provides a long list of sources upon which the organization drew in order to reach the total count.
Posted on September 23, 2013

Global Feed Industry

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The feed industry is a part of the agriculture sector. The term feed here is used as a noun and refers to the food provided to agricultural animals and fish, to livestock. Many different things are used as feed. These are usually broken into two categories, concentrates and roughage. The concentrates are the high energy value feeds that come from cereal grains, high-protein oil meals, and by-products from processing sugar beets, sugarcane, animals and fish. The category of feed referred to as roughage includes pasture grasses, hay, silage, corn stalks and the like.

An area of interest and research in this industry is raising insects for use as animal feed. It has the potential for being a very sustainable, comparatively low energy way to significantly increase feedstocks over the next decades. This is important since United Nations’ estimates predict a 70% increase in demand for agricultural feed over current rates by the year 2050.

Today’s market size is the quantity and value of feed production globally in 2011.

Geographic reference: World
Year: 2011
Market size: 870 million tons valued at $350 billion
Source: “Insects as Animal Feed,” The Fish Site, June 3, 2013, available online here.
Original source: United National Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
Posted on September 20, 2013

Non-Alcoholic Beer

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The volume of non-alcoholic beer consumed worldwide is on the rise. According to The Economist (full citation below), the volume of non-alcoholic beer consumption globally was 80% higher in 2012 than it had been in 2007. Part of this rise is the result of increased consumption of this beverage in the Middle East. Increasing penalties for drunk driving in several European countries has also been seen by industry analysts as a contributor to the rise in demand for non-alcoholic beer.

Today’s market size is the volume of non-alcoholic beer sales globally in 2012.

Geographic reference: World
Year: 2012
Market size: 2.2 billion liters (by way of comparison, world consumption of beer annually is in the range of 148 billion liters)
Source: E.H. “Why Are Sales of Non-alcoholic Beer Booming?” The Economist, August 11, 2013, available online here.
Posted on September 17, 2013

Newsprint

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Newsprint

Newsprint is a grade of paper used primarily for printing newspapers, advertising inserts and advertising mailers. It comes not in sheets but in huge, long rolls for use in web offset, letterpress, and flexographic printers. As the digitizing of information has advanced, it will come as no surprise to see that the demand for newsprint has been on the decline. We made a graph to show how the value of newsprint shipments by the paper industry have fared over the last fifteen years in the United States. The newsprint industry is designated as NAICS 322122 by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Since the majority of newsprint is used in the production of newspapers, the decline of the newspaper industry is mirrored in the decline of newsprint production. Among the factors causing a decline in the newspaper industry are a declining readership, particularly that of young adults, the rise of digital editions for which paid subscriptions are far less, and the decline in advertising revenue that has resulted as advertisers’ budgets are being split among a growing number of media outlets, many online. For figures on the newspaper industry, check our earlier posts on that market, here.

Today’s market size is the value of U.S. newsprint shipments at the wholesale level in 1998 (a peak year for shipments) and 2011. Worth noting is the fact that declines in newsprint have exceeded declines in newspaper circulation during this period—46% decline in newsprint shipments versus 21% decline for daily newspaper circulation—suggesting that the papers that are in circulation are not only fewer than before, but have fewer pages as well.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 1998 and 2011
Market size: $5.42 billion and $2.92 billion respectively
Source: “Value of Shipments for Product Classes,” Annual Survey of Manufactures, editions: 2001, 2005, 2008 and 2011. This series of reports is produced by the U.S. Bureau of the Census in all non Economic Census years. The reports are available online through the Census Bureau’s American FactFinder system, here. Newspaper circulation data are from “Newspaper Circulation Volume,” Newspaper Association of America, September 4, 2012, available online here.
Original source: First Research and the U.S. Bureau of the Census
Posted on September 12, 2013

U.S. Military Personnel

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Today’s market size is one of those that we do from time to time that takes liberty with the term “market.” It is the number of people employed by the U.S. Department of Defense, as active duty personnel as well as civilian employees.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: U.S. Budgetary Fiscal Year 2013
Market size: 1,478,000 active duty and 791,000 civilians
Source: “Table 7-5 Department of Defense Manpower,” National Defense Budget Estimates for FY 2013, March 2012, page 259-260. This publication is often referred to as the “Greenbook.” It is available online here.
Original source: Office of the Under Secretary of Defense, U.S. Department of Defense
Posted on September 11, 2013

Paper Consumption

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While the use of paper and paper products has not declined significantly—despite much talk in the 1990s of a coming paperless society—the publishing industry is using less paper. According to a new industry report, paper consumption by the book industry declined by 34% from 2006 to 2010, due in part to the great recession and in part to increasing sales of e-books. This information comes from a report whose primary purpose was to track the book publishing industry’s overall environmental impact on the world. Another item highlighted in the report is the increasing quantity of recycled material in the paper that is used by the industry. According to the report, the use of recycled fiber by the book publishing industry rose from 5% of all fiber in 2004 to 24% in 2010.

By way of placing this information in the context of the larger paper industry, it is worth noting that during the period covered in the Book Industry Environmental Trends report, the total value of product shipments made by U.S. Paper and Newsprint Mills dropped by 6.2%, from $45.5 billion in 2006 to $42.7 billion in 2010. In 2006, newsprint represented 7% of the value of all paper mill product shipments and by 2010 that percentage had fallen to 3.6%. But, a discussion of newsprint takes us into a complex niche within the paper market, one we will cover in another post one day soon.

Today’s market size is the volume of paper consumed by the U.S. book industry in 2006 and 2010.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2006 and 2010
Market size: 1.76 million tons and 1.16 million tons respectively
Source: Jim Milliot, “Keeping the Green in Publishing,” Publishers Weekly, July 22, 2013, pages 5-6, available online here. The rate of decline in value of output by U.S. Paper and Newsprint Mills was calculated from figures published by the U.S. Census Bureau in its Annual Survey of Manufacturers, (ASM) series of reports, “Value of Product Shipments,” and specifically, data reported under NAICS codes 322121 and 322122. The ASM data are available online here.
Original source: Book Industry Environmental Trends and U.S. Census Bureau
Posted on September 10, 2013

Luxury Massage Chairs

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InadaMessageChair

The term “stress” is heard frequently these days and is often associated with a long list of both mental and physical ailments. There are also many industries that offer to sell stress relieving aids, from consumables like specially formulated juices and deep penetrating lotions to gym memberships and spa resort getaways. Massage has long been a way to relax, to reduce stress. So the idea of a chair that will massage your entire body whenever you want has a natural appeal for those looking for ways to relieve or reduce stress.

Today’s market size is the approximate value of the luxury massage chair market in the United States in 2012, based on estimates from one of the industry’s leaders. This market size refers to fully automated massage chairs and not chairs used by masseurs/masseuses, also called massage chairs. Luxury massage chairs are a high-end product often costing several thousand dollars. Nonetheless, the luxury massage chair industry is a tiny part of the overall group of industries whose products and services are aimed at stress reduction.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2012
Market size: $250 million
Source: Bruce Horovitz, “All Stressed Out? Business Will Sell You Some Peace,” USA Today, August 5, 2013, available here. The photo is from the Inada web site here.
Original source: Inada
Posted on September 6, 2013

Insurance Industry

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Insurance carriers and those involved with selling and managing insurance policies have seen a slow recovery since the recession. Over the period 2007 to 2012, industry revenue did not keep up with the rate of inflation, growing 4.2% over the period. In the earlier part of the decade, from 2002 to 2007, it grew 21%, exceeding inflation by 6%.

The industry presented here [NAICS 524] is defined by the U.S. Census Bureau as “all establishments that are primarily engaged in one of the following: (1) underwriting (assuming the risk, assigning premiums, and so forth) annuities and insurance policies or (2) facilitating such underwriting by selling insurance policies, and by providing other insurance and employee-benefit related services.” Companies falling into the second part of the above definition account for slightly less than 10% of industry revenues.

Today’s market size is the size of the insurance industry in the United States based on its revenues in the years 2002, 2007 and 2012.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2002, 2007 and 2012
Market size: $1.38, $1.67 and $1.74 trillion dollars respectively
Source: “Table 9 – Finance and Insurance (NAICS 52) Estimated Quarterly Revenue for Employer Firms Third Quarter 2009 Through Fourth Quarter 2012,” from a series of reports made available by the U.S. Census Bureau at their website, Annual & Quarterly Services, available here. The data for 2002 and 2007 are from “Finance and Insurance: Geographic Area Series: Comparative Statistics for the United States (2002 NAICS Basis): 2007 and 2002,” 2007 Economic Census, available here.
Original source: U.S. Bureau of the Census
Posted on September 5, 2013

Apples and Cherries in Michigan

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Farming is not for the weak of heart as volatility in agricultural output is still the norm. After a year of devastation for the fruit industry in the State of Michigan, this year is shaping up to be a strong recovery. No matter how much technological know-how we invest in our agricultural industries, in the end, weather can still have the final say on whether a year is a boon or a bust.

Michigan is the third largest apple producing state in the union and its state flower is the apple blossom. In 2012, unusual weather patterns in the early part of the season destroyed many of the fruit crops for the year. In 2013, the pent-up energy in the fruit bearing trees has combined with perfect weather conditions to produce what is expected to be a bumper crop for most fruits grown in Michigan.

Today’s market size is the quantity of apples and cherries grown in Michigan in 2012 and 2013, based on early 2013 crop reports.

Geographic reference: Michigan
Year: 2012 and 2013
Market size: Apples: 2.74 and 30.0 million bushels respectively
Market size: Cherries: 11 and 212 million pounds respectively
Source: Michael Martinez, “Michigan expects biggest apple crop in decades,” The Detroit News, August 31, 2013, available online here.
Original source: Apple Committee and the Michigan Farm Bureau
Posted on September 3, 2013

Used Merchandise

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UsedMerchStores

Whether it be the post-recession, budget-conscious consumers or eco-friendly consumers who’d rather reuse than buy new, more and more people are buying used merchandise. In a July 2013 survey by America’s Research Group, nearly 20% of adults surveyed said they shopped at a secondhand store in the past year. According to the Association of Resale Professionals, there are an estimated 25,000 used merchandise stores in the United States, which includes thrift, resale, and consignment shops. This number is projected to increase by 7% annually.

The graphic shows U.S. sales made through used merchandise stores from 1992 through 2012. What is worth noting is the fact that, as is true for all categories of products, used merchandise is sold online as well as through retail outlets. The sales figures presented in the graphic do not include online sales of used merchandise, think eBay… We suspect that if those sales were added to the sales made through retail outlets, the significance of a shift towards used would be even more striking.

Today’s market size is the sales volume of used merchandise stores in the United States 2002 and 2012.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2002 and 2012
Market size: $9.5 and $13.4 billion respectively
Source: Lindsay VanHulle, “As Recession Alters Shopper Attitudes, Secondhand Shops Thrive,” Lansing State Journal, August 25, 2013, pages 1E, 3E. The graphic was made with data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s series of reports on the retail trade sector, specifically: “Estimated Annual Sales of U.S. Retail and Food Services Firms by Kind of Business: 1992 Through 2011,” released March 29, 2013 and available here.
Original source: First Research and the U.S. Bureau of the Census
Posted on August 28, 2013

Cold Cereal for Breakfast

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In recent years makers of cold cereal have seen their revenues drop as more people choose a variety of other options for their first meal of the day. In the second quarter of 2013, Kelloggs reported a 3% drop in sales of cold cereal and General Mills reported a 7% drop. Yogurt, shakes, and on-the-go breakfast bars are popular alternatives to cold cereal. While cold cereal is still the number one choice for breakfast in the United States, yogurt is the second most popular choice with revenues of nearly $7 billion. And within the yogurt market, it is Greek yogurt that has pushed sales skyward for several years now. A novelty just five years ago, Greek yogurt has grown to represent 40% of the yogurt market since then.

Today’s market size is the value of sales of cold cereal in the United States for the year, August 2012 to August 2013.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: August 2012-2013
Market size: $9 billion
Source: Jane Wells, “Cereal Killers: Americans’ New Breakfast Habits,” CNBC, August 23, 2013, available online here.
Posted on August 27, 2013

Organic and Natural Juices

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Just as more and more people are choosing to buy organic produce, so too are they looking for similar choices in the juice aisle of the supermarket or health food store. Data show organic and natural juice revenue for 2012, a 13% increase over 2011.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2012
Market size: $2.4 billion
Source: Clare O’Connor, “Hain Celestial is Juiced,” Forbes, August 12, 2013, pages 40-42.
Original source: Nutrition Business Journal
Posted on August 21, 2013

Seaborne Freight

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SeaborneFreight

The most energy efficient means of moving freight is by moving it over water. The increase in global trade over the last few decades and particularly the increase in moving raw materials long distances as part of the overall manufacturing process has meant a significant rise in seaborne freight. The chart we offer here shows that increase by charting the tonnage moved annually by sea, broken into three categories: (1) tonnage moved in shipping containers, (2) movements of oil and gas, and (3) movements of cargo in bulk which includes all those things which may be moved in a dry cargo container ship. This final category is further broken down into the five major bulk products and all other bulk. The five major bulk products are iron ore, grain, coal, phosphates and bauxite.

The overall trajectory of growth is clear. What may not be quite as clear is the growth in how much of that freight is moved in container ships, the category shown in blue at the bottom of each bar. The growth of containerized freight movements has been the most striking. Over the period 1990 to 2012 the movement of containerized freight, when measured in tons moved, increased by 16% per year For those interested in more on container shipping, here’s a link to an earlier post we did covering the container ship market.

Today’s market size is the number of tons of freight moved by sea in 2000 and 2012. Of these totals, the percentage of freight moved in container ships, and thus, for the most part, finished goods as opposed to raw materials, was 10% in 2000 and 16% in 2012.

Geographic reference: World
Year: 2000 and 2012
Market size: 5,984 and 9,297 million tons respectively
Source: “Figure 1.2 International Seaborne Trade, by Cargo Type, Selected Years, 1980-2012,” Review of Maritime Transportation 2012, United National Conference on Trade and Development, 2013, page 9, available online here.
Original source: United Nations
Posted on August 19, 2013

Wireless Systems in Cars

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Nearly all automakers offer some sort of wireless network in their cars, such as General Motors’ OnStar and Ford’s SYNC. Data show the estimated revenue from wireless devices in cars in 2013. This figure is projected to increase tenfold by 2025.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2013
Market size: $2.5 billion
Source: Andy Greenberg, “Digital Carjackers,” Forbes, August 12, 2013, pages 44-46
Original source: GSMA, a mobile industry trade group
Posted on August, 15, 2013

Map Apps

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According to IHS Automotive, one in four U.S. cars now comes with a navigation system. Globally, installations of dashboard navigation systems are estimated to reach 13.8 million by the end of 2013. Typically, automakers charge between $500 to more than $2,000 for these systems. Even standalone GPS systems tend to cost hundreds of dollars. In addition to high cost, these systems come preloaded with maps and are not connected to the internet, thereby making them more difficult to update. In some cases, a trip to the dealership is necessary.

In contrast, smartphone and tablet map apps are internet-connected, easy to update, often give real-time traffic information and in some cases can be downloaded for free. In 2012, 47% of car owners said that they used a smartphone map app while driving, up from 37% in 2011. Makers of dashboard navigation systems have taken notice. General Motors’ OnStar, Garmin, and TomTom all have created map apps of their own, ranging in price from $36 to $150. In some cases, these apps run both on mobile devices and on a car’s dashboard.

Today’s market size is the number of map app downloads in the U.S. in May 2013, an 11% increase from the total downloaded in May 2012.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: May 2013
Market size: 79.1 million
Source: Keith Naughton, “OnStar, Garmin Try to Keep Pace with Waze, Other Free Navigation Apps,” Bloomberg Businessweek, July 25, 2013, available online here.
Original source: ComScore
Posted on August 13, 2013