ANN ARBOR, MI- Sales of machine vision components and systems in North America soared 54% in 2010 to nearly $1.8 billion, according to new figures released by the Automated Imaging Association (AIA), the industry’s trade group.

The AIA Quarterly Machine Vision Sales Tracking Report recorded robust sales growth in all major machine vision supplier markets, including cameras, lighting, optics, imaging boards, application-specific machine vision systems, software and smart cameras. The new report also disclosed widespread optimism about the future, with nearly three-fourths of companies submitting data for the report expecting sales to improve over current levels in the first half of 2011.

“The substantial market growth in 2010 demonstrates the importance of machine vision technology to companies in manufacturing and non-manufacturing sectors,” says AIA President Jeff Burnstein. “We saw strong evidence of this at the recent Automate 2011 Show and Conference which was our largest in a decade. Exhibitors reported strong interest in machine vision solutions and conference sessions focusing on vision were packed.”

Paul Kellett, AIA’s Director of Market Analysis, adds, “There is every reason to believe that the machine vision recovery will continue at full steam for quite some time to come. Macro-economic indicators and forecasts for the business sector remain positive, and industry expectations point to a solid recovery for at least another six months. Our overall assessment of machine vision sales is therefore very positive.”