Machine Vision Market Analysis By Product (PC Based, Smart Camera Based), By Application (Quality Assurance, Positioning and Guidance, Measurement, Identification), By Offering, And Segment Forecasts, 2018 - 2025

Industry Insights

The global machine vision market size was valued at USD 9.10 billion in 2016. The increasing demand for quality inspection and automation in different industrial verticals is likely to drive the machine vision industry.

Additionally, the need for vision-guided robotic systems across automotive, food & beverage, pharmaceutical & chemical, and packaging segments is expected to fuel the market growth. The surge in demand for application-oriented machine vision systems is also boosting the adoption of the technology over the forecast period.

Germany machine vision market revenue by application, 2014 - 2025 (USD Million)

Machine vision involves the ability of a computer to observe, inspect, and scrutinize the work performance by employing one or more video cameras, digital signal processing, and analog to digital conversion. The captured data is then transferred to the computer to analyze and provide the desired output. Resolution and sensitivity are two important aspects of any machine vision system. Resolution is responsible for differentiating between objects whereas sensitivity is the machine’s ability to detect objects or weak impulses despite dim lights or invisible wavelengths.

Machine vision particularly assists in supervising work environments. It offers features such as process control, robotic guidance, and automatic inspection in industrial applications. Industrial production and manufacturing activities are becoming increasingly complicated day-by-day, creating difficulties and increasing unreliability for the human eye to keenly detect, observe, and examine production activities.

The technology is witnessing a high adopted in industrial operations and is significantly replacing manual inspection and measurements, owing to the increasing necessity for efficient and reliable inspection and measurements. Machine vision systems deploy smart cameras and image processing to perform measurements and inspections.

The intensifying need for superior inspection and increasing automation are the key influencing factors paving the way for the notable adoption of machine vision technology. Furthermore, the need for increased quality control by consumers and manufacturers coupled with government regulations to abide by the prescribed specifications is expected to catapult the adoption of machine vision technology.

The technology is gaining a considerable traction across food & packaging, automotive, pharmaceutical, and other industrial verticals owing to abilities such as improved detection of objects, enhanced analysis, monitoring tolerance, and accurate component measuring.

All these factors are expected to boost the global market growth over the estimated duration. However, the lack of efficient system operators due to inadequate training is a restraining factor that is likely to obstruct the smooth growth of the market.

Offering Insights

On the basis of offerings, the machine vision industry has been segregated into hardware and software segments. Hardware accounted for the largest market size in 2016 and is anticipated to dominate the market over the forecast period.

Hardware components comprise several objects such as cameras, sensors, processors, frame grabbers, LED lightings, optics, and others. Cameras held the largest share in 2016, which is attributed to the increasing demand for CMOS imaging sensors. This, in turn, is anticipated to result in the growth of the hardware sub-segment.

The market for software is application specific and fragmented based on the necessity of application. The software segment is expected to witness a steady growth rate over the forecast period on account of training and deep learning of the technology, which is fairly contributing to the overall market growth.

The offering segment is anticipated to exhibit a steady growth over the estimated duration owing to the large market share of the hardware components. The hardware offering is expected to continue growing over the forecast period. In addition, the software sub-segment is also expected to contribute gradually to the overall industry growth and help strengthen the market.

Application Insights

On the basis of applications, the market has been segmented into quality assurance and inspection, positioning and guidance, measurement, and identification. The systems are extensively used for scanning and identifying labels, barcodes, and texts, especially in the packaging sector. This automates packaging activities, thereby saving time, avoiding human errors, and increasing efficiency.

The technology is frequently used in the consumer goods, pharmaceutical, and packaging sectors. The adoption of technology in these sectors has resulted in reduced counterfeit products to a large extent, eventually serving the overall market to gain traction for increased adoption.

Identification using machine vision is also used in camera surveillance, monitoring traffic, or recognizing number plates for security purposes. The segment is expected to grow at a rapid CAGR of 9.7% from 2017 to 2025 owing to several advantages and opportunities offered to the technology worldwide.

The quality assurance and inspection segment held the largest share in 2016. It is expected to continue growing steadily, thereby maintaining a hold on the market by generating the largest revenue. It is projected to grow at a steady CAGR of 8.4% from 2017 to 2025.

Product Insights

The product segment has been sub-categorized into PC based and smart camera based systems. The PC based systems accounted for the largest market share in 2016. The segment is anticipated to continue growing and lead the market in terms of revenue over the estimated duration.

However, the smart camera based systems are projected to exhibit a robust growth rate over the forecast period. The segment is subjected to grow at the fastest rate of 8.9% from 2017 to 2025. This considerable growth of the segment is attributable to the growing adoption of cameras in 3D imaging.

Global machine vision market revenue by application, 2016 (%)

Machine vision systems, also called vision systems, consist of numerous cameras. At times, depending upon the requirements, these cameras are mounted over the assembly lines so as to observe and examine products and capture data. This is leading to the greater adoption of smart cameras in machine vision applications.

Cameras are also capable of reading labels and directing products automatically without any human involvement. Minimized human intervention has led to decreased errors and increased accuracy of inspecting labels and tags. These aspects of smart cameras are influencing the adoption of the technology across various industrial sectors, thereby fueling up the overall market growth.

Regional Insights

The Asia Pacific region accounted for the largest share in the machine vision market in 2016. The region is projected to experience a considerable growth and would continue to grow at a robust rate from 2017 to 2025. This large market share and regional growth can be accredited to the lucrative opportunities in automotive, packaging, pharmaceutical, and other industrial applications in the Asia Pacific region.

As the region is establishing itself to become a global manufacturing hub, the technology is anticipated to gain significant traction over the forecast period. China and Japan are prominent countries having a potential to offer extensive opportunities for the emerging as well as matured technologies such as machine vision. The numerous manufacturing industries are contributing to the growth and prosperity of the region’s overall economic development.

In addition to this, the expenditure and operational benefits coupled with the initiatives being undertaken by the governments of emerging countries, such as South Korea, India, Taiwan, and Singapore, are responsible for catapulting investments and encouraging different industry players to establish their production units in the Asia Pacific region.

Furthermore, increasing investments are being carried out in R&D activities to improve machine vision technology and related developments, due to which prominent players are undertaking strategic initiatives such as distribution alliances, partnerships, mergers, and acquisitions. As such, all these factors are expected to propel the growth of machine vision market in the Asia Pacific region.

Competitive Insights

Prominent companies functioning in the machine vision market include Basler AG, Cognex Corporation, Keyence Corporation, Microscan Systems, Inc., National Instruments Corporation., and OMRON Corporation. With greater opportunities being offered by both developing and developed nations such as the U.S., Germany, UK, China, Japan, South Korea, India, and Brazil, the prominent players are continuously striving for new product developments and venture capital investments to acquire market presence.

Report Scope

Segments covered in the report

This report forecasts revenue growth at global, regional, and country levels and provides an analysis of the industry trends in each of the sub-segments from 2014 to 2025. For the purpose of this study, Grand View Research has segmented the global machine vision market on the basis of offerings, products, applications, and region:

• Offering Outlook (Revenue, USD Million; 2014 - 2025)

  • Hardware

  • Software

• Product Outlook (Revenue, USD Million; 2014 - 2025)

  • PC Based

  • Smart Camera Based

• Application Outlook (Revenue, USD Million; 2014 - 2025)

  • Quality Assurance & Inspection

  • Positioning & Guidance

  • Measurement

  • Identification

• Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Million; 2014 - 2025)

  • North America

    • U.S.

    • Canada

    • Mexico

  • Europe

    • Germany

    • UK

    • France

  • Asia Pacific

    • China

    • Japan

    • India

  • South America

    • Brazil

  • Middle East & Africa