'US, China to drive global industrial automation mkt'

USA/CHINA: With the global industrial automation market predicted to reach more than $200 billion by 2015, IMS Research forecasts that US and Chinese markets will drive substantial market growth of 9.5 percent in the global industrial automation market to reach about $160 billion this year. Some European countries could slip back into recession but the market growth will be buoyed by the economies of other countries.

"Several countries in Europe have slipped back into recession in 2012 and with the potential of Greece exiting the Eurozone, European markets have continued to be plagued by uncertainty and instability. Though austerity measures in Europe and in the U.S. have impacted public investment into automation equipment, large declines in these markets are unlikely as most investment in industrial automation comes from the private sector,'' says Sarah Sultan, research analyst at IMS Research.

Except for the US market, there has been slow growth (in first quarter) in machinery production business in most of the regions. Machinery production output drives demand for nearly half of the total industrial automation equipment market. Both the machinery production and end equipment business segment is performing well in the US economy. North America and South America performed the best in the first quarter with positive growth across several equipment types compared to the first quarter of 2011.

"The Americas and Asia Pacific regions account for 65 per cent of the global market for industrial automation electronics. Asia is the largest consumer of industrial automation products, and the relative strength of its economy in 2012 is predicted to lead to spending of $64 billion , which represents nearly 40 per cent of the global market,” adds Sultan.