The number of new Ethernet nodes installed in industrial automation networks dropped by 10.7% between 2008 and 2009, from more than five million, to fewer than 4.7m. But a new report from IMS Research predicts that the global market for industrial Ethernet will grow at an average annual rate of 11.6% between 2010 and 2014.

According to the report’s author, John Morse, the drop between 2008 and 2009 was significant, “but far less than that in product shipments. This indicates the continuing growth in the use of Ethernet-based communication technologies in industrial applications.”

According to IMS, the Asian region is recovering the fastest from 2010, with an estimated growth rate of more than 14% per year, while EMEA and the Americas are growing at 11.1% and 10.3% respectively.