The main findings in the annual study of the industrial network market by HMS Networks predicts the number of new connected nodes to grow by 10 percent. Industrial Ethernet now accounts for 59 percent of new installed nodes, while fieldbuses are on 35 percent. EtherNet/IP is still the most widely installed network at 15 percent, but PROFINET is closing in at 14 percent. Wireless technologies continue to develop strongly and are steady at 6 percent of the market.          

Some of the trends they see within industrial communication in 2019 includes continued growth for industrial Ethernet, and had surpassed traditional fieldbuses for the first time. With a steady growth rate of 20 percent, industrial Ethernet now makes up 59 percent of the global market (compared to 52 percent last year). EtherNet/IP is the largest industrial Ethernet network with 15 percent of the market, but PROFINET has almost closed the gap and is now at 14 percent. Ethernet runners-up globally are EtherCAT at 7 percent, Ethernet POWERLINK at 5 percent, and Modbus-TCP at 4 percent.

Fieldbuses are declining by -5 percent (compared to a 6 percent growth last year), now accounting for 35 percent of new installed nodes. The dominant fieldbus is still PROFIBUS with 10 percent of the total world market, 1/3 followed by CC-Link at 6 percent and Modbus-RTU at 5 percent. Wireless technologies are also growing steadily by 30 percent and accounts for 6 percent of the total market. Within Wireless, WLAN is the most popular technology, followed by Bluetooth.

Regional network variations in Europe and the Middle East, EtherNet/IP and PROFINET are leading and PROFIBUS is still widely used. Other popular networks are EtherCAT and Ethernet POWERLINK. The US market is dominated by the CIP networks, with a clear movement toward EtherNet/IP. EtherCAT is continuing to gain market share. In Asia, no network stands out as truly market-leading, but PROFINET, EtherNet/IP, PROFIBUS, EtherCAT, Modbus and CC-Link are widely used, with the Ethernet version CC-Link IE Field also gaining traction.

Learn more at www.hms-networks.com.