HMS Networks has just released its annual industrial network market analysis, and this is the twelfth year the company has tracked how factories and machine builders connect their automation systems. The 2026 study shows the long shift from traditional fieldbus technologies to Industrial Ethernet kept moving forward through another full year.
Industrial Ethernet now makes up 79% of newly installed nodes worldwide, up from 76% in 2025 and just 34% when HMS first started publishing these numbers in 2015.
After the slowdown in 2024, the market stabilized in 2025. Component availability has returned to normal, and inventory cycles in highly automated sectors have mostly been worked through.
Europe’s automotive sector kept facing challenges, but broader manufacturing activity recovered modestly, and capital spending on new automation projects picked up again in most regions.
The 2026 study confirms what HMS expected: around 7.7% average annual growth in newly installed nodes over the next five years, with much of that expansion driven by the remaining fieldbus install base moving to Industrial Ethernet.
Industrial Ethernet hits 79% of new installations
Industrial Ethernet now accounts for 79% of new nodes, up from 76% in 2025. The three leading Ethernet protocols kept strengthening their position, together representing roughly three-quarters of the wired protocol market.
Within Industrial Ethernet, PROFINET strengthened its lead at 30%, up from 27%. EtherNet/IP follows at 25%, up from 23%, and EtherCAT continues a strong trajectory at 20%, up from 17%.
Modbus TCP holds steady at 5%, CC-Link IE remains stable at 3%, and POWERLINK declines to 1% from 3%. Other Ethernet protocols account for the remaining 2% as market consolidation around the major networks continues.
Fieldbus drops to 14% as PROFIBUS declines
Fieldbus technologies now represent 14% of new nodes, down from 17% in 2025. PROFIBUS & PROFINET International’s own figures showed PROFIBUS new-node installations dropping from 1.1 million in 2024 to 1.0 million in 2025, a 9% decline that matches HMS Networks’ internal data and industry survey.
Within fieldbus, PROFIBUS remains the largest but drops to 4% from 5%. Modbus RTU holds steady at 3%, which reflects its continued role as the universal low-cost serial protocol.
CC-Link, DeviceNet, and CAN/CANopen each remain in the 1–2% range with modest further decline. Other fieldbus protocols collectively account for 2%, down from 4%, as the long tail of legacy networks fades.
Wireless stays steady at 7%
Wireless technologies continue to connect 7% of new node installations, unchanged from 2025. Wireless keeps its established role as a complement to wired industrial networks, especially valuable for mobile equipment like AGVs and AMRs, retrofitted machinery, and IIoT sensors in hard-to-reach locations.
5G remains an area of significant interest but industrial deployment is still slow. 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 hasn’t delivered the breakthrough adoption many in the industry expected.
What’s happening by region
In Europe, PROFINET and EtherCAT continue to lead, with strong activity around APL for process automation and SPE for sensor-level connectivity.
PROFIBUS decline is most visible in Europe, where the install base is largest and the migration to PROFINET is most advanced.
In North America, EtherNet/IP remains the dominant protocol, especially in automotive and discrete manufacturing. Adoption of IO-Link, APL, and SPE is gaining clear momentum, supported by interest in OT cybersecurity ahead of regulatory changes around CRA and IEC 62443.
In 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.
Beyond protocols: a wider look at industrial networking
To complement the annual market share analysis, HMS Networks publishes the State of Industrial Networking, an extended companion report that examines the bigger picture shaping industrial communication, including cybersecurity, leading industry voices from around the world, regional and industry-specific dynamics, and 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, and the 2027 edition opens for participation in June. As individual protocol-level shifts grow smaller year on year, the broader picture in the extended report will increasingly carry the conversation about where industrial networking is heading.
HMS Networks’ Perspective
“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.
About the study
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.
To download the full report: CLICK HERE
