North American MV markets to grow at slower rate

Rick Nelson, Chief Editor -- Test & Measurement World, 4/1/2007

The North American machine-vision markets will grow in most segments this year, pacing the US and Canadian economies, according to Paul Kellett, director of market analysis for the Automated Imaging Association. Kellett expects machine-vision sales volumes for most product categories to grow in 2007, but at decreasing rates, as the US gross domestic product (GDP) growth slows from 3.4% in 2006 to 2.7% in 2007, and as the Canadian GDP growth dips to 3% in 2007 from 3.1% in 2006.

Kellett, who surveys the North American machine-vision market annually, presented preliminary 2006 results and 2007 forecasts on February 1 during the annual business conference of the Automated Imaging Association (AIA) in Orlando, FL. Among the highlights, Kellett expects machine-vision component revenues to increase from $204.7 million in 2006 to $218.6 million in 2007.

As indicated in the table, he expects growth in optics, cameras, imaging boards (including frame grabbers and vision-processing boards), and software. The weak spot, he says, is lighting, which is facing price pressure as a result of the emergence of low-cost LEDs.

Note that the “cameras” entry in the table does not include smart cameras, which Kellett classifies as “integrated equipment” instead of as “components.” For smart cameras (including sensors and embedded vision processors), Kellett expects revenues in 2007 to grow 10.5% (vs. 15.2% in 2006) to $126.2 million.

As for application-specific machine-vision systems, he expects revenues to reach $1249.3 million in 2007, representing 2.8% growth (compared to 3% in 2006). The declining growth rates for 2007, he said, result from a slowing of the ongoing economic expansion.

The complete study tracks revenues and unit shipments, reporting results from 2001 and providing forecasts through 2011. The full market report is available from the AIA's Web site, www.machinevisiononline.org.