Worldwide shipments of wireless products for industrial monitoring and control applications will increase nearly 20 percent per year, from $629.1 million in 2007 to reach $1,504.3 million in 2012, according to a market study by Natick, Mass.-based Venture Development Corp.

The study -- RF/Microwave Industrial Wireless Monitoring and Control Products: For Discrete and Process Manufacturing, Third Edition -- looks at the market for a range of radio frequency and other wireless industrial control technologies, including:

• Sensors and transducers (temperature, flow, level, pressure and others).
  
• Data-acquisition systems.
  
• Network products (access points, I/O devices, modems, repeaters, routers, transceivers).
  
• Operator-interface terminals (hand-held, notebook, tablet, vehicle mount, wearable computers, and PDAs).
  
• Remote controls.

Reasons cited by VDC for the forecast high market growth rates for wireless products include:

• General awareness of the benefits of wireless technology.
  
• Increasing trust in wireless technologies.
  
• Emerging industry standards.
  
• Its inherent protection against wire damage and its concomitant maintenance.
  
• Its ability to monitor and/or control some equipment for which no contact technology can be used.
  
• Ease of implementation.

For more information about the study or its conclusions, visit www.vdc-corp.com.