North American machine vision market grows 10% in first quarter of 2017

North American sales of machine vision systems and components increased 10% year over year to $597 million in the first quarter of 2017, according to new statistics issued by AIA, the industry’s trade group.

Total machine vision sales include sales of machine vision systems and components. The machine vision systems category increased 10% to $509 million in the first quarter of 2017. Within machine vision systems, sales of smart cameras climbed 16% to $87 million, while application specific machine vision (ASMV) systems grew 8% to $422 million.

The machine vision components category also grew 8% in the first quarter of 2017 to $85 million. Every individual component category, including cameras, lighting, optics, imaging boards, and software, increased to begin the year.

“Our most recent survey of industry experts shows that 50% of respondents expect the market to increase over the next six months, 40% predict stagnation, and only 10% are bracing for a decline,” said Alex Shikany, AIA’s director of market analysis. “Vision companies continue to explore new applications in a variety of industries adopting the technology. The move toward smart factories utilizing the industrial internet of things is also providing more opportunities for vision today than ever before.”

“The market’s growing interest in vision technology was apparent at our Automate show and conference in Chicago this year,” said AIA president Jeff Burnstein. “There were a record number of vision exhibitors at the show who were displaying cutting edge new vision technology. Automate’s educational conference – which included AIA’s Basic and Advanced Certified Vision Professional programs – also drew record attendance.”