What is the current residential and automotive window film market size
in US and Europe? What is the market trend?
(Window films are thin sheets of polyester that are applied to the
surface of glass windows and doors on homes, commercial and public
buildings and motor vehicles mainly for sun protection and
security/safety purpose)

Hallo duweb,

I managed to find the information you were searching for on the site
of MSC (Material Sciences Corporation)( http://matsci.com/ ). The
company calls its division MSC/ISF (Innovative Specialty Films)
(http://www.isfilms.com/ ) the market leader in the window film sector
with a share of about 20% of the world market. They have recently been
bought by Bekaert ( http://www.bekaert.com ).

MSC and Bekaert see the value of the current world market in this
sector ranging between 250 and 280 million $US (mid 2001 estimate).
They also draw a clear line between the automotive market and the
residential market. Both believe that the automotive market is already
mostly saturated. In contrast they view the residential market
especially in Europe (which they expect to catch up quickly) as a
market with high growth potential largely due to growing concerns
about the environment and a resulting need to conserve energy in
residential buildings.

For the US market they project a growth of about 5% annually. For
Europe their growth estimates are higher. Especially in the
architectural application sector they expect double digit growth.

I hope this answers your question – I’m sorry that I wasn’t able to
turn up exact percentage numbers on the growth in special areas. There
is still the possibility that maybe the International Window Film
Association or the European Window Film Association. However that
information is not immediately available on their web-sites, so either
you or I have to ask them via email. I posted the answer anyways, so
you can decide, if it is sufficient for your need, if you want me to
inquire via email (which will probably take a few additional days to
get back replies) or if you want to proceed from there and want me to
supply addresses for direct inquiry. (As a side note - they also have
a chat room at the International Window Film Association, where you
might find business insiders to chat with).
Another route of inquiry would be to ask the Window Film Magazine or
maybe ask for a press kit for the International Window Film Conference
and Expo.

Please tell me in a request for clarification, if you want to go ahead
with email inquiries or if there is another part of the question which
you feel requires additional research.

voyager-ga

Additional Resources:

European Window Film Association
http://www.ewfa.org/

International Window Film Association
http://www.iwfa.com/default.htm

Bekaert Specialty Films
http://www.solargard.com/

Specialty films outlook (MSC/ISF)
http://matsci.com/investors/hilight_film.html

Company Overview for MSC
http://matsci.com/investors/overview/s_film.html

Bekaert Press Release concerning the aquisition of MSC (June 2001)
http://www.bekaert.com/eng/press/frame_press.htm?e20010611.htm~presshoofd

International Window Film Conference and Expo 2003
http://www.glass.com/file_depot/0-10000000/0-10000/6611/folder/19550/IWFE.pdf

Window Film Magazine
http://facinellimedia.com/winfilm.htm

Search Strategy

market "window film"
://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&q=market+%22window+film%22

market estimated "window film"
://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&q=market+estimated+%22window+film%22

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Request for Answer Clarification by duweb-ga on 10 Jan 2003 00:02 PST

Voyager,

Thanks for your good quality work. It confirms the data I already had.
Indeed I was able to extrapolate the window film market size from
http://www.bekaert.com/analysts/ingbarings/01-06-12.pdf

The extrapolated data gives an idea of the size of the business made
by  the film manufacturers. Total window film business size should
then be extrapolated by taking into account the distributors and
installers margins. Fair enough if there is no additional (more
precise) data available.

I had the names of the big film manufacturers and I had already
contacted several of the them. Separately I've already talked to the
European Window Film Association.

On the other hand, I didn't know about the Window Film Magazine.

Thanks for your help. 

Duweb