Estimated between $120 and $140 million USD per year, the North American confined space gas detector market is very large, and very mature. Many confined space instrument users are on their fourth or fifth generation of gas detectors and seem to be as knowledgeable about the instruments as the product manufacturers themselves.
Because of the market's size, the competition between confined space gas detection product manufacturers is fierce, which has led to increasingly good deals in terms of features and price for end-user customers. With every new generation of product comes even better features and capabilities, at ever lower prices.