Mountain View, Calif.— New data acquisition platforms are growing quickly and older platforms are declining, according to a recent report, "U.S. Data Acquisition Boards and Software Markets," by Frost & Sullivan. While data acquisition hardware, software, portability, and system integration technologies continue to evolve, the report found that U.S. data acquisition boards and software market revenues reached $380.6 million in 1997.

Emerging platforms (PCI, PCMCIA, and VXI) are expanding rapidly, while ISA and VME are decreasing, says Shekar Gopalan, Frost & Sullivan's analyst. Newer technologies (CompactPCI, Universal Serial Bus (USB), and Firewire IEEE 1394) are also growing and are expected to affect revenues of plug-in boards and modules after 2000.

Because of accelerated competition, the report says smaller companies are losing market share and certain market leaders are continuing to grow steadily. Large companies are increasing market share by exercising greater financial capabilities, sales networks, support facilities, and product ranges. The report concludes that all players in the data acquisition market must be able to change platforms quickly, offer products compatible with multiple platforms, and incorporate scalable technology.

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