Although the market certainly was not expected to experience the kind of dramatic growth it had in 2010, coming out of recession, machine vision was not expected to show decline at this point. But that is what analysts are seeing in machine vision revenues, according to John Morse, senior analyst at IMS Research.
Global machine vision revenues grew at an estimated 40% in 2010, Morse said, fully recovering from the devastating fall of 2009. It would be expected, therefore, that 2011 would not bring a similar rise. “This leveling of growth rate is no surprise, and was forecast in the latest edition of the report, published in February this year,” Morse said. “What is a bit surprising is the sharp decline detected in the first half year results from the IMS Research machine vision quarterly market tracker, particularly in the Americas and Asia. EMEA seems to be holding up better at this time.”
The completion of restocking following the downturn is a likely factor contributing to this slowing of growth rate, Morse explained. Global revenues are still projected to grow about 10% in 2011, compared with an estimated 7-8% growth for global industrial activity. “The longer-term prospects for machine vision are forecast to be better, but the warning signs suggest there is no room for complacency,” Morse warned. “We will continue to monitor the situation closely through our tracking activities.”
