Sales of machine vision components and systems in North America rose substantially in the third quarter 2010. Overall, year-over-year growth hit 68%, up from second quarter 2010 at 60% and first quarter 2010 at 34%, according to the new sales tracking report of the Automated Imaging Association (AIA).
Robust sales were reported in all major machine vision supplier markets, including cameras, lighting, optics, imaging boards, software, application-specific machine vision systems and smart cameras.
The report disclosed that 68% of companies submitting data for the report expect sales to improve in the next six reported months; that is, 4th quarter 2010 through 1st quarter 2011. Of the remaining companies, 28% anticipate sales at or near the level reached in the third quarter, and just 4% believe that sales will decrease.
"These results are very impressive, leaving little doubt that the recovery in the North American machine vision market is real and sustainable," noted Paul Kellett, AIA's director of Market Analysis. "Based on industry expectations, we expect the recovery to continue at least another six months."
