Revenues for machine vision hardware are projected to grow faster than the average for industrial automation, according to the latest report on this market by IMS Research. The world machine-vision hardware market was estimated to be worth over $1.6 billion in 2008 and forecast to grow to over $2.1 billion by 2012.

The average annual growth in revenues was projected to be 7.2%, and in unit shipments 9.0%. Fierce competition, particularly from manufacturers in the Far East, is driving average prices down. “However, there are substantial differences between the market growth expected in different regions. Two thirds of revenue growth to 2012 will come from Asia” commented John Morse, author of the report.

Morse continued, “The report analyses these regional differences, by being split into three sections: EMEA, Americas and Asia Pacific; as well providing a summary of the world market”.