A3 Predicts Uptick in Automation and Machine Vision Sales in 2025

Revenue from sales of machine vision components and systems in North America was essentially flat in 2024, compared with 2023, but the outlook for 2025 is more upbeat, particularly in the second half of the year.

That’s the conclusion presented by the Association for Advancing Automation, or A3, (Ann Arbor, MI, USA) at its annual business forum for members last week in Orlando, Florida. More than 700 people attended the forum, representing companies in machine vision, robotics, motion control, and AI.

When it comes to machine vision, sales revenue in 2024 totaled $2.863 billion, down 1% from $2.895 billion in 2023. The downward trajectory follows a decline of 7% from $3.116 billion in 2022 to $2.895 billion in 2023.

The multi-year downward trend follows a post-Covid boom in machine vision sales revenue in 2021 ($3.019 billion) and 2022 ($3.1116 billion).  

Related: Slowdown in Machine Vision Market Continues in Europe

Machine Vision Market Performance

Machine vision software was the brightest spot in 2024: revenue was up 14.5%, compared with 2023. Manufacturers of cameras had a worse year than their peers in software, with sales revenue declining 9%. “It was a very difficult year to sell cameras coming out of the inventory buy-aheads,” explained Alex Shikany, executive vice president of A3. He was referring to an upswing in sales immediately after the Covid pandemic in response to shortages of semiconductor chips.

Related: Will 2024 be a Better Year for Machine Vision than 2023? 

Revenue in other component categories also declined in 2024, compared with 2023: down 2.5% for lighting, 4.6% for optics, and 8% for imaging boards.  

Systems fared better than components. Sales revenue for application-specific systems, the largest category that A3 tracks, was down 0.7% in 2024, compared with 2023, while the smart camera category was up 1%.

Economic Upturn in 2025

However, the economic situation should improve in 2025, spurring sales increases in the automation industry, according to Alan Beaulieu, an economist and principal at ITR Economics (Manchester, NH, USA). He was a keynote speaker at the forum. ITR Economics forecasts a slow but positive rate of change in the first half of 2025, with a faster rate of improvement in the second half of the year. The economy will then “really pick up some speed in 2026,” followed by economic prosperity for the remainder of the decade, Beaulieu told attendees.

Like Beaulieu, A3 also expects a better automation market in 2025, including sales of machine vision components and systems, Shikany said.

Industries in which there are immediate business opportunities for machine vision companies include:

• Logistics: “Vision is going to play an important role in scanning, in inventory management, and in materials handling applications," Shikany said. 
• Semiconductors: As a result of the U.S. Chips and Science Act, companies are investing in new American factories. “A lot of value from that has yet to be realized,” Shikany commented. “Those factories, in many cases, are still being finalized. Still being built. Still need technology and equipment to deploy, and we have an industry to help,” he said. 
• Healthcare, Life Sciences, Pharmaceuticals: An aging population fuels consumer demand in these industries, making automation an attractive strategy for fulfilling those expectations. “The value proposition that our industry provides these companies is extremely attractive. As they need to sell more, as they need to make more, as they need to produce more, we are here to help them,” Shikany said. 

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Over the longer term, Shikany believes there will be a growing number of new and innovative applications of machine vision technologies to automate tasks in agriculture and construction—both of which contend with labor shortages and a plethora of jobs that require physically demanding and dangerous work.

Already venture capital is funding nascent automation solutions for construction, he says, asking rhetorically, “Is it human beings strapped on very dangerous pulley systems in there doing manual applications hundreds of floors above ground level? Or is it automation solutions? Is it a robot? Is it a vision system? Is it a drone?”

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With automation, humans can supervise work through a human-machine interface that they control at ground level. “These are the types of things that you start to see emerging and could get massive adoption if the value proposition resonates and the ROI is there,” he added.

A3’s Sales Predictions

A3 fields regular surveys of its members involved in all facets of automation. In the surveys, A3 asks members about their expectations for sales in the automation industry during the upcoming six months and the full year. The association completed the most recent survey in January 2025, and Shikany shared the results with forum attendees.

The association asked, “What are your sales expectations for the first half of the year (January-June), compared to the first half of 2024?”

An overwhelming majority of respondents predict sales increases in 2025. Specifically, 48% expect a moderate increase (1% to 10%) and 29.8% expect a significant increase of more than 10%. Meanwhile, 15.7% expect flat sales, 6.1% expect a moderate decline (-1% to -10%) while 0.5% expect sales to be down more than 10%.

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They were more bullish about sales for the entire year in 2025, compared with 2024. Over 12 months, 43.4% expect sales to be up significantly (10% or more) and 46% expect sales to be up moderately (1% to 10%). Only 9% expect flat sales, while 1% expect sales to be down by 1%-10% and 0.5% expect sales to be down by more than 10%.

Summing up performance expectations from members, Shikany said, “It is going to be a good year, but it is going to take a quarter or two to get there.”