Foreign counterparts continue to beat out China's domestic industrial automation enterprises in technology, brand, product range and more, but domestic enterprises do have cost, price, distribution channels, market segments expanding, personalized services and more that are working to their advantage.
Chinese companies had less than a 30% market share in the industrial automation sector, leaving a greater potential for them to substitute foreign brands in coming years, according to the "Global and China Industrial Automation Industry Report, 2013-2015" from China Market Research Reports. The report analyzes and forecasts operations and development plans of domestic and foreign enterprises in the global and Chinese industrial automation industry.
In the first half of 2013, China had 797 small-sized automation enterprises above designated size, which accounted for 81.7% of the total number of enterprises; 152 mid-sized automation enterprises accounted for 15.6%; and 26 large enterprises represented 2.7%.
Jiangsu, a province of China, has 342 enterprises. In the first half of 2013, China had RMB 212 billion industrial automation enterprises above designated size, which increases 14.9% year on year. The top five cities contributing to the growth are Jiangsu, Beijing, Zhejiang, Shanghai and Guangdong.
Siemens remains the world's largest industrial automation company, with revenue of €75.9 billion in FY2013. While down 2% year on year in revenue, the company achieved a net income of €4.41 billion, which is up 3% year on year.
The report shows a decline in revenue is due to lack of business performance brought on by weak demand and rising costs. In response to the decline, Siemens has enhanced its product line and increased investment in information technology and software businesses.
