Architectural coatings are used by end users on the interior or exterior surfaces of residential, commercial, institutional or industrial buildings, and applied at room temperatures. These coatings can be categorized based on their usage for aesthetics and protective purposes. They include surface preparatory products, such as putties, primers, and the aesthetics and protective products; namely top coat, and base coat. Weather resistance, wash-ability, low VOC, anti-fungal, and anti-dampening are certain properties which the top coat and base coat impart to the surface. Architectural coatings can be mainly classified into waterborne, solventborne, and powder coating technologies. The major resins used in these coatings are acrylic, alkyd, polyurethane, and vinyl. --------------------------- 1. Micro markets are defined as the subsegments of the global architectural coatings market included in the report. 2. Core competencies of companies are determined in terms of their key developments, SWOT analysis, and key strategies adopted by them to sustain in the market.

Visionary leaders are the leading market players in terms of new developments such as product launches, innovative technologies, and the adoption of growth strategies. These players have a broad product offering that caters to most of the regions globally. Visionary leaders primarily focus on acquiring the leading market position through their strong financial capabilities and their well-established brand equity.

Dynamic Differentiators are established players with very strong business strategies. However, they have a weaker product portfolio compared to the visionary leaders. They generally focus only on a specific type of technology related to the product.

Innovators in the competitive leadership mapping are vendors that have demonstrated substantial product innovations as compared to their competitors. The companies have focused on product portfolios. However, they do not have very strong growth strategies for their overall business, when compared with the visionary leaders.

Emerging companies have niche product and service offerings. Their business strategies are not as strong as that of the established vendors. The emerging vendors include the new entrants in the market, emerging in terms of product portfolio and geographic reach, and require time to gain significant traction in the market.