"Between 2007 and 2012, operator terminal adoption in the worldwide food, beverage and tobacco machine-builder sector will increase by over 125,000 units," predicts IMS analyst, Mark Watson. "One factor driving growth is the increasing use of highly ruggedised touchscreen operator terminals, which can be washed down. These products are able to store, analyse and distribute large amounts of data, crucial in a sector where traceability is often required by law."

Another report, looking more specifically at the market for HMI software and services, forecasts that it will expand with a CAGR of more than 9.1% over the five years to 2012, rising from $926m in 2007 to more than $1.43bn in 2012. The study, by the ARC Advisory Group, says that systems running on Windows XP are the fastest-growing in terms of revenue, while Windows CE is the fastest-growing in terms of units sold. By 2012, Windows Vista systems are expected to overtake XP sales, with CE continuing to replace proprietary software embedded in devices.