Scottsdale, AZ - March 30, 2007 - Annual sales of PROFIBUS nodes reached a new high of 3.4 million in 2006 according to figures just released by PI (PROFIBUS and PROFINET International), the umbrella organization representing 25 regional PROFIBUS offices around the world and over 1400 member companies. This brings the total number of PROFIBUS nodes installed worldwide to 18.8 million. PROFIBUS remains on track to easily surpass the milestone of 20 million nodes by 2008 forecasted at the start of 2004.
According to Mike Bryant, Executive Director of the PTO (PROFIBUS and PROFINET North America): “Doubling from 10 million to 20 million within four years has been easier than expected as the market realized the power of PROFIBUS. We actually sold more nodes last year than any other fieldbus organization, and it isn’t slowing down. The pattern set in discrete automation was repeated in process automation and PROFIBUS remains by far the strongest candidate for fieldbus applications in both market sectors.” The total number of installed PROFIBUS PA devices reached 630,000 by the end of 2006.
Therefore, today there are approximately 3.3 million PROFIBUS devices (DP and PA) in this market, roughly 5 times more than any other fieldbus. PROFIBUS suits the majority of process applications because they often require process instruments and discrete functionality to run side by side. This so-called ‘hybrid’ requirement dominates the process industry and PROFIBUS is the number one choice not only in technology, but also in terms of life cycle cost. PROFIsafe, the functional safety profile for PROFIBUS networks also saw impressive growth in 2006.
The number of installed PROFIsafe systems rose to 26,000 and the number of PROFIsafe products in use topped 230,000. PROFIsafe boasts particular benefits for customers when used in conjunction with PROFIBUS, or PROFINET, PROFIBUS’s sister Industrial Ethernet solution, thanks to their shared functionality and common look and feel. PROFIBUS continued to build on its position as a market leader in all regions worldwide. Developments on the Asian markets, spearheaded by China, have been particularly rapid and above-average growth is expected there in coming years. A PROFIBUS organization was founded for the Middle East in Dubai, another important step for PROFIBUS growth in the future.
The PTO (PROFIBUS and PROFINET North America) is the non-profit, member-supported automation organization for communication solutions. It is dedicated to supporting the discrete and process industries in achieving beneficial results using fieldbuses, specifically PROFIBUS and PROFINET. The PTO also assists device manufacturers in the development and marketing of PROFIBUS and PROFINET products. Covering North America, PTO is one of 25 regional associations that make up PI (PROFIBUS and PROFINET International). Established in 1989, PI has over 1400 members, who have developed and now supply more than 2500 types of devices.
To date, more than 18,000,000 devices have been installed.