Industrial network market shares: Ethernet grows, fieldbus declines

HMS Networks' annual analysis of the industrial network market for 2026 indicates a continued shift towards Industrial Ethernet, which now accounts for 79% of newly installed nodes globally, up from 76% in 2025. Traditional fieldbus technologies saw their share of new installations fall to 14%, down from 17% the previous year.

Within Industrial Ethernet, PROFINET strengthened its lead to 30% (up from 27%), followed by EtherNet/IP at 25% (up from 23%) and EtherCAT at 20% (up from 17%). Modbus TCP maintained its 5% share. Among fieldbus protocols, PROFIBUS remained the largest but decreased to 4% (from 5%).

Wireless technologies held steady at 7% of new installations, continuing their role as a complement to wired networks, particularly for mobile equipment and hard-to-reach sensors. Industrial adoption of 5G proceeds slowly, with infrastructure complexity cited as a key barrier.

The market is forecast to grow by an average of 7.7% annually over the next five years, largely driven by the ongoing migration of fieldbus installations to Industrial Ethernet. Magnus Jansson, Director of Product Marketing at HMS Networks, stated that the transition from fieldbus to Ethernet is in its later stages, with the conversation shifting towards aspects like cybersecurity and functional safety.