MAY 7, 2009--The global downturn in economic and industrial activity will have a significant effect on sales of machine-vision hardware, according to IMS Research (Wellingborough, UK; www.imsresearch.com). As a result, market forecasts published in May 2008 have been revised to reflect current market conditions.
"Such significant changes in market conditions cannot be ignored," commented John Morse, author of the latest Machine Vision Hardware Market report from IMS Research. "The industry," Morse continued, "needs a current and realistic view of market prospects. No one foresaw the scale of the current downturn in manufacturing, which has prompted us to review our forecasts. We are continually monitoring this market while economic conditions are so uncertain."
In the fourth quarter of 2008, machine-vision companies saw, on average, their sales fall by 15% from the fourth quarter of 2007. Some have seen up to a 50% decline in sales revenues in the first two months of 2009, although there are great variations depending on the industries they serve. As a result IMS Research has reduced the worldwide forecast for machine vision hardware (2008-2009) from growth of 7.0% to a revenue reduction of 13.4%.
Sales to automotive, semiconductor, and related industries are the worst affected. Sales to medical and infrastructure-related industries are faring better than most at present; this is expected to continue, despite the longer lead times associated with infrastructure projects.
"The downturn in the machine vision hardware market is global," Morse added, "with Asia and the USA appearing to be in a slightly worse position than Europe at this time." He accepted that circumstances can change very quickly but recovery was likely to be governed by financial markets and the supply of investment funds. "I do not see this happening until at least 2010; followed by a steady climb to normality. Until that happens we will continue to review our forecasts frequently."
-- Posted by Vision Systems Design, www.vision-systems.com
