ANN ARBOR, MI—Total sales of machine vision components and systems grew over nine percent in 2013.  According to AIA, this more than doubles the initially forecasted growth according to new statistics issued by the Automated Imaging Association, AIA, the industry’s trade group.

Total machine vision sales include sales of machine vision systems and components.  Last year’s surge in growth is largely due to an increase in sales of machine vision systems, which includes application specific machine vision systems (ASMV) and smart cameras.  Machine vision systems grew 11% in 2013.

While sales of machine vision systems were up, sales of machine vision components remained flat in 2013.  Standout component categories in 2013 were imaging boards, optics, and lighting, all of which posted growth over 2012.

“It is great to see the machine vision market in North America grow in 2013 after experiencing a contraction in 2012,” said AIA President Jeff Burnstein.  “We hope to see continued growth in 2014 as the North American economy remains relatively strong.”

“Industry experts believe strongly that we will experience growth in component markets over the next six months” added Alex Shikany, AIA’s director of Market Analysis.  There isn’t as much optimism surrounding machine vision systems, however, with the majority of industry experts expecting sales to remain flat through the second quarter of 2014.”

In addition to its sales tracking report, AIA currently offers its 2013 Machine Vision Camera Market Study, which is available at a discounted rate to AIA members.  AIA also prepares studies on special topics, such as its upcoming market opportunity study on Life Sciences, which it makes available to all AIA members free of charge on Vision Online.