by Chris Rommel
Key Findings
USB and Ethernet continue to be the fastest-growing protocol and wiring setup.
Companies with experienced and highly trained direct sales teams are performing consistently better than companies using distribution channels and other go-to market strategies.
National Instruments remains the leader and continues to take market and mind share; however, there are still many opportunities for more nimble companies to increase sales.
Vertical markets seeing the most growth and opportunities include energy (wind turbines, solar installations, natural gas turbines, hydrogen) and aerospace. Slowest are semiconductors and in-line process manufacturing.
Paperless chart recorders were seeing strong growth but are slowing now due to the mobile trend of sending data to a tablet, PC, or smartphone. All screens will eventually be cannibalized by a touchscreen for various reasons.
With mobility comes the need for more performance per watt over pure performance - power requirements, reliability, compatibility, and ease of use (minutes to green) are the features that buyers are now looking for.
Modular and decentralized I/O will increase in popularity, allowing DAQ and sensor systems to become smarter, more versatile, and more reliable.