VDMA Forecasts European Machine Vision Industry To Decline Ten Percent
The VDMA Machine Vision division is forecasting a ten per cent drop in sales in nominal terms for the machine vision industry in Europe this year. The sales outlook has deteriorated compared to the April forecast (minus 3 per cent) with no anticipated growth envisaged for 2025.
“The manufacturing industry is the most important customer for the European machine vision industry, with a market share of 71 percent for systems and 62 percent for components,” says Mark Williamson, Chairman of the VDMA Machine Vision Division. “In Germany, Europe’s largest economy, orders for this sector in July 2024 were 4.3% lower than in the same month a year earlier, after adjusting for calendar effects. This is having a dampening effect on demand for machine vision products in the short term. In the medium to long term, however, the industry’s success story will continue, as machine vision remains a key automation technology.”
Overall, the market environment for machine vision is benefiting from a broad automation trend. This applies both to the manufacturing industry and non-manufacturing. In fact, demand for machine vision systems outside the manufacturing industry rose by 5 per cent to a market share of 29 per cent in 2023 continuing the trend for machine vision conquering new application fields. The three most important areas of application here are Intelligent traffic systems, with a revenue share of 61 per cent, logistics & postal sorting (20 per cent) and medical equipment (7 per cent).
Demand for machine vision componentsis even higher outside the manufacturing industry, accounting for 38 per cent of sales. Medical equipment accounts for 34 per cent of component sales, followed by intelligent transport systems (18 per cent) and logistics & mail sorting (12 per cent).
For more information: https://www.vdma.org
