Regional loyalties to shape Industrial Ethernet market

Wellingborough, UK - Growth in the use of Industrial Ethernet is forecast to exceed that of networking protocols in general, says a new IMS Research report. Global shipments of Industrial Ethernet nodes, it said, are set to register a compound annual growth rate of 22% over the next 5 years, with some regions and industries faring better than others.


"Industrial Ethernet appears to be following the same path trodden by fieldbus protocols; with a growing number of variations on the theme," said John Morse, a senior market analyst at IMS. "Many of the variants will find their niche in the market however, it will come as no surprise that the research found that PROFINET is forecast ultimately to dominate the EMEA region and Ethernet/IP will enjoy the lion’s share in the Americas”.

According to Wellingborough-based IMS, its shake out scenario reflects the relative strength of Siemens and Rockwell Automation in EMEA and the Americas respectively. Meanwhile, noted Morse, the research suggests that the technology mix will be more evenly spread in Asia.

(Process Engineering will run an in-depth report on the IMS study, when it becomes available)