Halmstad, Sweden, June 16, 2026
HMS Networks has released its annual analysis of the industrial network market, marking twelve consecutive years of tracking how factories and machine builders connect their automation systems. The 2026 study shows that the long-running shift from traditional fieldbus technologies to Industrial Ethernet has continued through another full year, with Industrial Ethernet now accounting for 79% of newly installed nodes worldwide, up from 76% in 2025 and just 34% when HMS first began publishing these figures in 2015.
After the slowdown of 2024, the market stabilized in 2025. Component availability has returned to normal levels and inventory cycles in highly automated sectors have largely been worked through. While Europe's automotive sector continued to face headwinds, broader manufacturing activity recovered modestly, and capital spending on new automation projects resumed in most regions. The 2026 study confirms HMS Networks' expectation of approximately +7.7% average annual growth in newly installed nodes over the next five years, with continued migration of the remaining fieldbus install base to Industrial Ethernet driving much of that expansion.
The 2026 analysis shows that Industrial Ethernet now accounts for 79% of new nodes, up from 76% in 2025. The three leading Ethernet protocols continued to consolidate their position, together representing roughly three-quarters of the wired protocol market.
Within Industrial Ethernet:
Fieldbus technologies now represent 14% of new nodes, down from 17% in 2025. PROFIBUS & PROFINET International's own published figures showed PROFIBUS new-node installations dropping from 1.1 million in 2024 to 1.0 million in 2025, a 9% decline corroborated by HMS Networks' internal data and by HMS's industry survey.
Within Fieldbus:
Wireless technologies continue to connect 7% of new node installations, unchanged from 2025. Wireless retains its established role as a complement to wired industrial networks, particularly valuable for mobile equipment such as AGVs (automated guided vehicles) and AMRs (autonomous mobile robots), retrofitted machinery, and IIoT sensors in hard-to-reach locations.
5G remains an area of significant interest but slow industrial deployment. The complexity of private 5G infrastructure is the most commonly cited barrier. Early industrial 5G deployments continue to grow, particularly in Asia, but the technology has yet to deliver the breakthrough adoption many in the industry expected.
Europe: PROFINET and EtherCAT continue to lead, with strong activity around APL (Advanced Physical Layer) for process automation and SPE (Single Pair Ethernet) for sensor-level connectivity. PROFIBUS decline is most visible in Europe, where the install base is largest and the migration to PROFINET most advanced.
North America: EtherNet/IP remains the dominant protocol, particularly in automotive and discrete manufacturing. Adoption of IO-Link, APL and SPE is gaining clear momentum, supported by interest in OT cybersecurity ahead of the regulatory landscape taking shape around CRA and IEC 62443.
Asia: PROFINET and EtherCAT both continue to grow in the Chinese market. CC-Link IE, the first industrial protocol with TSN mechanism, maintains a strong regional foothold.
“Twelve years of data tell a remarkably consistent story. The migration from fieldbus to Industrial Ethernet is now in its later stages, but the more interesting question is what happens next. When nearly everything is Ethernet, the conversation shifts from 'which protocol?' to 'what is running on top of it?', functional safety, cybersecurity, TSN, OPC UA, Single Pair Ethernet, IT/OT convergence. That is where the complexity, and the differentiation, will increasingly sit,” says Magnus Jansson, Director of Product Marketing, at HMS Networks.
“The 2026 numbers also reinforce something we have been seeing in our industry survey: cybersecurity is now cited by nearly half of respondents as a top integration challenge, and 93% expect OT cybersecurity to change substantially over the next five years. The protocols matter, but the layers above them increasingly define how factories actually operate.” Magnus continues.
To complement the long-running annual market shares analysis, HMS Networks publishes the State of Industrial Networking, an extended companion report that examines the broader dimensions shaping industrial communication: cybersecurity, leading industry voices from across the world, regional or industry-specific dynamics and much more.
The extended report draws on the Future of Industrial Networks survey, an externally panelled study now in its second annual edition. The 2026 cycle captured responses from industrial designers and users across all major regions and industries, with the 2027 edition opening for participation in June this year. As individual protocol-level shifts grow smaller year on year, the broader picture captured in the extended report will increasingly carry the conversation about where industrial networking is heading.
The HMS Networks analysis is based on a combination of market insights, internal data, and input from key stakeholders in the industrial automation industry. The study focuses on newly installed nodes in factory automation worldwide, each node being a device or machine connected to an industrial control network. This is the twelfth consecutive year HMS Networks has published this annual analysis.
Survey
Your voice matters! Take our short survey to share your insights and help guide next year’s market report. As a thank-you, you’ll get early access to the full results.
Extended Industrial Network Share Report 2026
Discover insights from HMS' annual Industrial Network Report - now with extended coverage on key trends and developments. Fill in the form to get your exclusive copy!
