Total sales of machine vision systems and components grew 16% year-over-year to $1.2 billion in the first half of 2015, the highest first half total since the AIA began recording statistics in the market.
The machine vision systems category—which includes smart cameras and application-specific machine vision systems (ASMV)—saw a year-over-year increase of 18% to $1 billion in the half of the year. Smart cameras increased by 13% to $151.3 million while ASMVs increased 19% to $892.3 million. Additionally, machine vision components, including cameras, lighting, and software, grew 6% to $164.7 million. Lighting grew by 20%, while software and imaging boards grew 8%.
"We’re happy to see the machine vision market continue its expansion in 2015," said AIA President Jeff Burnstein. "We’re seeing a wide variety of companies in all industries realize the benefits of implementing machine vision in their operations."
Alex Shikany, AIA’s Director of Market Analysis, added. "Industry experts are optimistic for growth in machine vision cameras, software, and imaging boards in the next six months," he said. "However, experts expect machine vision systems to remain flat in the next two quarters."
Despite the positive numbers, the market experienced a bit of a slowdown during Q2, as the 10% growth in the quarter was behind the 18% average over the past four quarters.
"Machine vision, like many other manufacturing markets, is cyclical in nature," Shikany said. "The market grew 25% in the fourth quarter of 2014, and followed with a 22% increase in the first quarter of 2015. This is in contrast to its average quarterly growth rate of 16% since the first quarter of 2010. A cyclical normalization like this is something we’ve seen in the past, and typically follows a period of high, sustained performance."
Recent news out of the VDMA shows that the European machine vision market grew by 16% in 2014, and in 2015, is expected to grow at a rate of 11%. With the increasing need for automation in a world with constantly-advancing technology, it is no surprise that the global machine vision market is looking up.
Two upcoming events that will showcase some of these technologies including the AIA’s first Vision in Life Sciences Conference, which will be held November 19 in San Diego, as well as the first AIA’s Canadian Machine Vision Conference, which will be held October 5-7 at the National Research Council’s downtown Ottawa, ON location.
"Both of these events are going to be great for learning about the technology, networking with key players, and determining how to successfully apply vision and imaging," said Burnstein.
View more information on the Canadian Machine Vision Conference
View more information on the Vision in Life Sciences Conference.
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James Carroll
Former VSD Editor James Carroll joined the team 2013. Carroll covered machine vision and imaging from numerous angles, including application stories, industry news, market updates, and new products. In addition to writing and editing articles, Carroll managed the Innovators Awards program and webcasts.