PLC market share 2

[jraef]

I am looking for a source of market information on how manufacturers fit into North American industry in terms of installed units (not dollars). Allen Bradley salesmen continually throw around a figure of 40% of all PLCs in use in NA are AB. If that's true, that is a commanding number. But is it? The few who to which I have had access to challenge on that have said the number comes from NEMA, but I have my doubts. I found no such study readilly available from NEMA or any other commonly known industry organization. While I will not dispute their dominance, that sounds like an awfully high number given the number of competitors they have. The purpose of my question has to do with communication compatibility in future systems developemnt. I don't need suggestions on standards and alternatives, nor do I want to hear about your brand of PLC. I just want to know of a reliable source of data on installed base.



Eng-Tips: Help for your job, not for your homework Read faq731-376

 

[Skogsgurra]

Hi Jeff,

Frost&Sullivan has published lots of market studies. I would not be surprised if they have done a study on PLCs. They did one on encoders a few years ago.

Have a look at their Industrial Automation Portal at

http://www.frost.com/prod/servlet/vp.pag/6408708

Gunnar Englund

http://www.gke.org

 

[EddieWillers]

That number is a little low; A-B's market share in the USA is between 52 and 56 percent, depending on the area. It's even higher in Canada. In Germany, Siemens enjoys a similar dominant position, as does Mitsubishi in Japan.

Worldwide, the top 7 suppliers sell about 80 percent of the controllers.

The worldwide market share numbers I found in an excerpt from the Automation Research Corp (arcweb.com) for 2003 are:

Siemens 30.7 %
Rockwell Automation 21.6 %
Mitsubishi 13.9 %
Schneider Electric 8.9 %
Omron 6.6 %
GE Fanuc 4.0 %
Moeller 2.3 %

ARC charges many thousands of dollars for their research reports, which the major vendors rely upon. I don't know how to find a public-domain report with the same information.

I think that sales volume and installed base are roughly corrolary if you are focusing on large factory automation systems. If you're trying to figure out whose micro-PLCs are in every automatic bottle washer, you're going to have a harder time finding that data.

 

[jraef]

Thanks (and PLS's) to both of you.