Recent ARC research indicates that the market for programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and programmable automation controllers (PACs) expanded in 2014. China and North America markets, in particular, were growth engines. However, with the current economic development, ARC sees the market stagnating in 2015 and 2016, largely because the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) are no longer a factor for growth.
Increasingly, PLC/PAC suppliers are focusing on the installed base of around 52 million PLCs. Many of these were installed in the mid-2000s and are likely to reach the end of their lifetime within the next five years. “While supplier market shares has been rather constant within the regions in recent years, the stagnating markets and impending end-of-life issue for much of the installed base, have the potential to change the landscape of the PLC market in the coming years,” according to Director of Research Florian Güldner, the principal author of ARC’s “PLC and PLC based PACs Global Market Research Study”.
Software and Services Increase Importance
Software and services are increasingly important for PLC suppliers and end users. End users increasing use software to define their requirements that are subsequently implemented in the hardware. PLC-related services around PLCs are also getting more important. Many users aim to outsource a larger share of their maintenance, training, or spare parts. To enable them to focus more on their core competencies and leverage their engineering resources more efficiently, end users have been outsourcing an increasing amount of PLC-related services such as configuration, training, and maintenance.
Installed Base
Currently, ARC estimates there are 52 million PLCs installed, with this number increasing to 65 million by 2019. A large percentage of these will be micro PLCs, the largest group of PLCs in terms of units.
Over the forecast period, the majority of PLCs sold will be used to replace a PLC that has reached the end of its lifecycle. This makes compatibility between different manufacturers’ engineering tools and programs increasingly important.
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