rsdoran said:
AB in contrast does about 25 million.
I can't believe that AB only does 25M in business, if so I am a much bigger customer than I thought!! Where did you get this number?
This is from Rockwells' 2006 fourth quarter and business year end report:
Control Systems
Control Systems fourth quarter sales were $1,188.8 million, an increase of 8 percent compared to $1,104.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2005. The effect of currency translation added nearly 2 percentage points to the growth rate. From a regional perspective, sales in the U.S. increased 3 percent in the 2006 fourth quarter, while non-U.S. sales increased 10 percent, excluding the effect of currency translation. Growth in the quarter was paced by continued strength in Latin America, emerging Asia, and Europe. Our Logix platform business grew by 12 percent in the quarter. Segment operating earnings were $228.6 million, an increase of 19 percent compared to $191.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2005. Earnings increased due to higher volume, productivity efforts, lower restructuring costs, and price, partially offset by inflation. Control Systems return on sales was 19.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2006 compared to 17.3 percent in 2005.
Sales for the full year were $4,551.3 million, an increase of 10 percent compared to sales of $4,123.6 million in 2005. Sales of our Logix platform business grew about 20 percent. Segment operating earnings were $873.1 million, an increase of 15 percent compared to $756.9 million in 2005. Control Systems return on sales for the year was 19.2 percent compared to 18.4 percent in 2005.
I was at an information seminar for Profibus from Siemens about a year ago. During that seminar they claimed that Profibus had somewhere around 70% or worldwide installed base. Modbus was next and then all of the Rockwell offerings.
I thought that this was pretty high, but what is "installed base". I this the meters of cable installed?, is this the number of nodes?, is this the number of independant control systems? Who knows, who cares. When I go shopping for a car I look for reliability, features, service (support), and price. Why should a PLC be any different?