Profibus Growth

Latest figures from Profibus and ProfiNet International (PI) claim the total number of installed Profibus nodes in manufacturing and process plants exceeded 25 million for the first time in April 2008, exactly a year after breaking through the 20 million node level. As a result, PI points out rather unnecessarily, the Profibus installed base has grown by 25% in the past year and continues to grow at a rate of 5 million nodes a year. Rather more contentiously, PI chairman Jörg Freitag claims that “With more than 25 million installed devices―probably more than all other rival systems combined―Profibus now dominates all sectors of industrial automation,” and adds that “The total value of the Profibus market is estimated at $50bn with every indication that this is still a growing market. We fully expect Profibus to exceed 30 million nodes by the beginning of 2009.”