North American Machine Vision Market Contracts in First Quarter of 2016

(Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA) - North American sales of machine vision components and systems fell 11% year over year to $546 million in the first quarter of 2016, according to new statistics issued by AIA, the industry’s trade group.

Total machine vision sales include sales of machine vision components and systems. The machine vision components category decreased seven percent to $79 million in the first quarter of 2016. Individual component categories such as cameras, lighting, optics, and software were down, while sales of imaging boards were flat.

The machine vision systems category also cooled in the first quarter of 2016 to $465 million. Within machine vision systems, sales of application specific machine vision (ASMV) systems decreased 13% to $391 million, while smart cameras contracted by two percent to $75 million.

Despite the declines on a year over year basis, the machine vision market in North America saw growth over year-end 2015 levels. More specifically, the components category saw an increase of five percent in sales over the fourth quarter of 2015, while machine vision systems increased by two percent.

“Fifty-six percent of industry experts are expecting things to turn upward for machine vision component markets in the next six months of 2016, 38% believe they will remain flat, and six percent expect further declines,” said Alex Shikany, AIA’s Director of Market Analysis. “We are in the midst of what appears to be a cyclical downturn for this market. Similar cyclicality was recorded in 2012, for example, which preceded a significant growth year (2013) for the North American vision market.”

“Despite the market’s cyclicality, interest in vision and imaging is at an all-time high,” said AIA President Jeff Burnstein. “The growing interest in these technologies was apparent at The Vision Show in Boston this past May. The show set new records for attendance, exhibitors, and its corresponding technical conference, and brought in interested users of vision technology from a multitude of industries.”

On the heels of a successful trade show, AIA expects its fall workshop, the Canadian Machine Vision Conference, to set new records as well. The one day event will be held on Thursday, October 20 in Vancouver, BC, Canada, at the River Rock Hotel & Casino, and will be preceded by two days of Certified Vision Professional (CVP) Basic level training on October 18 & 19. Registration for the conference and CVP training is now open on AIA’s website.

AIA has also recently announced the release of its new CVP Online Training Center and 2016 Machine Vision Camera Market Study. For the first time, AIA is offering its CVP Basic and Advanced courses online, where Basic level videos are provided for free, and access to the Advanced videos can be purchased via company subscription. AIA’s 2016 Machine Vision Camera Market Study aggregates data directly from leading machine vision camera manufacturers from across the world. The study breaks down the updated global camera data by customer type, region, sensor type, interface, resolution, color, lighting, and color, among others. Also included are analyses of pricing, interfaces, industries, and market trends. Both the CVP Online Training Center and the 2016 Machine Vision Camera Market study are available now on AIA’s website.

About AIA
Founded in 1984 to advance the understanding and use of imaging and vision technologies and to drive global expansion and growth through education and promotion, AIA now represents over 340 vision suppliers, system integrators, users, researchers, and consulting firms from 32 countries. AIA is best known for The Vision Show (April, 2018 in Boston); vision and imaging standards such as GigE Vision®, Camera Link®, Camera Link HS™ and USB3 Vision™; the Automate Show (April 3-6, 2017 in Chicago); the annual AIA Business Conference (January 18-20, 2017 in Orlando); the Certified Vision Professional program; AIA Certified System Integrator program; and Vision Online, the world’s leading online resource for vision information. AIA is part of the Association for Advancing Automation. For more information on AIA, visit Vision Online or contact AIA Headquarters at (734) 994-6088.

About Association for Advancing Automation (A3)
The Association for Advancing Automation is the global advocate for the benefits of automating. A3 promotes automation technologies and ideas that transform the way business is done. A3 is the umbrella group for Robotic Industries Association (RIA), AIA - Advancing Vision + Imaging, and the Motion Control & Motor Association (MCMA). RIA, AIA, and MCMA combined represent some 940 automation manufacturers, component suppliers, system integrators, end users, research groups and consulting firms from throughout the world that drive automation forward.

For more information, visit the following websites: A3 - RIA - AIA - MCMA

Contact:
Bob Doyle
Director of Communications
(734) 994-6088