SEPTEMBER 26, 2008--According to IMS Research's (Shanghai, China; www.imsresearch.com) recently published report, "The Worldwide Market for PLCs-2008 Edition," the Asia-Pacific market for PLCs and directly associated software and services was estimated at $US1,447.7 million in 2007, 17.5% more than in 2006. The research firm says that the Asia-Pacific market for PLCs continues to grow faster than those of other regions.

The knock-on effects of the 2008 U.S. economic downturn and some lessening of economic growth in Asia will tend to reduce PLC market growth. However, growing domestic consumer demand in Asia and an increased emphasis on quality control in industrial production are expected to drive the Asia-Pacific market forward. For example, Chinese domestic companies increasingly need to produce high-quality products; this is driving more industrial automation. Increasingly, the Asia-Pacific market continues to adopt the more advanced PLC technologies, while markets for lower-level, simpler PLC products also continue to grow. More complex applications are emerging, which require a higher level of functionality from the PLC.

Although the Asia-Pacific market is dominated by the leading global PLC suppliers, IMS says local suppliers are trying to increase their presence. China, India, Korea, and Taiwan each have domestic suppliers offering PLC products to the Asia-Pacific region. Constantly improving price-performance ratios of PLCs, increased competition, emerging technologies, and growth of both new and existing applications all contribute to the current condition and future growth of the PLC market in the region.

Fri Sep 26 12:03:00 CDT 2008