The yearly survey of recently installed nodes carried out by PI (Profibus International) indicates steady growth in its technologies relative to earlier years. Despite periods of economic and structural transformation, PI technologies are seeing robust growth for application in machines and systems worldwide. Economic uncertainties and the influence of supply challenges on inventories also affect products equipped with PI technologies, which is evident in device quantities, especially in Europe and China.
Nonetheless, products utilizing PI technologies managed to maintain their position effectively in the market, as evidenced by the count of newly installed nodes, although it could not replicate or surpass the record figures observed in prior years.
IO-Link
In 2022, interruptions in the supply chain resulted in material shortages and major delivery delays. These constraints were more than offset in 2023 due to the availability of a significant quantity of IO-Link devices, resulting in a projected normalization in 2024 with an extra 9.7 million new nodes introduced to the market. IO-Link continues to be stable and has experienced consistent growth over the years, having surpassed 61 million nodes in the latest count. IO-Link continues to effectively position itself as an international standard.
PROFIsafe
This kind of trend can also be seen with PROFIsafe nodes. Following exceptional growth in the preceding year, an additional 3.1 million nodes were put on the market in 2024. The establishment of this safety technology from PI therefore remains unwavering and underscores its significance and acceptance in the industrial sector with 28.7 million PROFIsafe devices at the current time.
PROFINET
Despite challenging market conditions, PROFINET was able to maintain its strong position as a leading technology in 2024. With an increase of 9.5 million nodes, PROFINET boasts a high degree of continuity even in this challenging environment. This underscores the success and continuing demand for PROFINET in industrial applications. Altogether, an impressive 78.8 million PROFINET products have been installed in facilities over the years.
PROFIBUS
Unsurprisingly, the recorded growth in the number of PROFIBUS devices is moderate. Despite this trend, PROFIBUS’ share in the process automation market remains strong. In 2024, a total of 1.1 million PROFIBUS devices were sold – 800,000 of which in the process industry. This demonstrates the continuing relevance and reliability of PROFIBUS in this important sector. In total, 70 million PROFIBUS devices have been brought to the market, with 17.3 million of them having been installed at processing plants.
“We see the trend in automation technology as positive, and we are ideally equipped for the future thanks to the continuous development of our technologies as the digital transformation progresses. The economic outlook is set to improve, and that includes international markets. Our globally distributed organizational form reinforces the market success of products with PI technologies. The demand for more data can be satisfied easily and consistently thanks to the PROFINET architecture and thanks to the extensive standardization of data structures and the consistent integration of IO-Link. With PROFINET over APL and PROFINET over SPE, we are leading the way in the introduction of APL/SPE technology. The first APL systems are already being put into productive operation, and we are supporting our manufacturers and users in using this new technology. In this way, we are promoting innovation and growth in automation applications across all industries through many activities,” remarked Xaver Schmidt, Chairman of PI.