The EtherCAT chips sold in the respective year are counted, without taking the chips for Bus Terminals into account. This means that a modular I/O station counts as a single node and not as 20, even if it consists of 20 EtherCAT Bus Terminals. "The chip numbers are exact figures, but there is a certain time lag: not every chip becomes a sold EtherCAT device in the same calendar year," says Martin Rostan, Executive Director of the EtherCAT Technology Group and responsible for EtherCAT licensing at Beckhoff Automation, commenting on the counting method. With EtherCAT - similar to CAN - only the chip manufacturers require a license and the device manufacturers have therefore already paid the small license fee with the purchase of the chips. Beckhoff finances the expenses of the EtherCAT Technology Group from the chip license revenue: membership in the fieldbus association is free of charge.

"Because we don't know the exact number of FPGA IP core-based implementations, we have been reluctant to publish node numbers," says Martin Rostan. "However, the reported unit numbers of the 12 EtherCAT chip providers are now so large that a possible imprecision in the estimation of the FPGA numbers no longer plays a role: they are included in the total figures with less than 10%. We have also included multi-protocol chips in proportion to the market share of the protocols. The figures are therefore based on very reliable sources on the one hand and are calculated very conservatively on the other: there are probably significantly more EtherCAT devices."

With the exception of 2019, when EtherCAT unit numbers were also unable to escape the sideways trend in the automation market, growth has been exponential for several years. "Three years ago, we still believed in an upward outlier, but the trend has now solidified: exponential growth is continuing," says Rostan. "The Asian market is developing the fastest, especially China. But EtherCAT is also making increasing progress in North America. And in Europe, where EtherCAT originated, EtherCAT has been going strong for some time."

7000 members worldwide

The membership growth of the EtherCAT Technology Group continues in the EtherCAT anniversary year: the 7000 mark was recently exceeded. And with more than 400 new members every year since 2014, the ETG sees itself as the largest and fastest growing fieldbus organization.

Member 7000 is Image Engineering. Based in Baltimore, USA, the company develops, builds and integrates special effects systems for the world of live entertainment. "EtherCAT has a very strong position in the entertainment industry, particularly in the United States," says Martin Rostan.

When looking at the global distribution of ETG member companies, the high level of distribution in Asia is striking. Over 2500 members come from China, Taiwan, Japan or Korea. In total, over 40% of members are from Asia.