Who are the most significant distributors of scientific products worldwide ?

Dear Edmund89, 

Thank you for submitting your question to Google Answers!

The market for scientific products is an extremely diverse one, as it
covers everything from incubators, to rubber hoses, to beakers. Much
of this is handled by smaller, specialized companies who are linked
together through large, international distributors like VWR
International and Fisher. The companies who network hundreds of
manufacturers like this and distribute the products end up being the
largest. VWR International and Fisher are leaders in this area, both
reporting networks of manufacturers exceeding 1,000.

DuPont is probably the largest of the specializing companies,
reporting an income of over 27 billion USD worldwide, in 2001, of
which US sales accounted for only about 45%. Dupont handles
distribution and development of chemicals. They developed the widely
used substances Kevlar (a strong fabric used in body armor) and
Teflon, (stain resistant material) among many others. They are the
leading international corporation in the field of chemicals.

For an idea of how diversified the scientific supply industry is, take
a look at this category in the Google directory. I found it very
interesting and was myself surprised at the vast array of items that
fall under this category:

Google Directory > Science > Instruments and Supplies:
http://directory.google.com/Top/Science/Instruments_and_Supplies/


Additional Information: 

Fisher
http://www.fishersci.com

DuPont
http://www.dupont.com

VWR International
http://www.vwrsp.com


Search Terms Used:

“scientific product distributors”
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=scientific+product+distributors

I hope this information is helpful to you!

Regards, 

Lunarloki

Fisher Scientific (HQ-Hampton, NH) is the world's largest distributor
of scientific products (2001 sales USD 2.9 billion)(2002 1st qtr USD
775 million).  In some respects these numbers tell a story of how
diverse and fragmented this distribution sector is in that Fisher, as
the largest, is so small.

You may wish to examine the link on scientific "distribution" as
follows:
   http://directory.google.com/Top/Science/Biology/Instruments_and_Supplies/General_Distributors/

I'll continue to research this category to try to give you a list of
the top 10 international distributors.
Thank you asking google answers.

according to applied patents.
http://216.239.39.100/search?q=cache:cb6XemtIFl8C:www.chiresearch.com/about/newsletter/april99.php3+patent+dupont++ibm+kodak&hl=zh-CN