VDMA Machine Vision (Frankfurt, Germany) has released updated projections on component and system sales for 2024 and 2025 in Europe, showing continued stagnation in the market.
VDMA now estimates that the sales of machine vision components and systems will be down 10% in 2024, compared to 2023. Earlier in the year, the trade group had expected sales turnover to improve in the last quarter of 2024, but that has not happened.
VDMA also revised its projections for 2025, and now expects sales turnover to be flat in 2025 for both Europe and Germany. “We don’t see any significant growth in 2025. We hope that is going to change. I think it is going to a slow dance in the year ahead,” says Mark Williamson, chairman of the board of VDMA Machine Vision (Frankfurt, Germany) and consultant to Stemmer Imaging (Puchheim, Germany).
Related: Continued Downturn in European Machine Vision Market Predicted
Williamson says that sales of systems are performing slightly better than component sales.
The performance picture also varies across industries. He says VDMA’s analysis of sales shows that machine vision components and systems are performing better in non-manufacturing industries, such as agriculture. However, manufacturing is the largest sector for machine vision sales, representing 70% of total sales for systems and 67% for components. “It is our biggest sector, and that is what is holding it back,” he says.
VDMA expects sales of machine vision components and systems to fully recover and hit another growth spurt in the medium- and long-term because machine vision is a core technology in automation and AI. “Machine vision is still very much a success story,” he concludes.
VDMA, or the Mechanical Engineering Industry Association, is a German trade group representing mechanical and plant engineering companies in Germany and Europe.
