“World Robot Report” released: Global sales reached 16.5 billion US dollars in 2018, and China accounted for the largest market


This paper mainly presents the statistics of Industrial Robots, service robots and collaborative robots (cobots) provided by the International Federation of Robotics.

The International Federation of Robotics (IFR) today released its annual World Robot Report, which shows that in 2018 global robot sales were $16.5 billion. Global shipments in 2018 were 422,000 units, up 6 percent from 2017, IFR said. However, the group said shipments in 2019 will fall back from record levels in 2018, but expect an average annual growth rate of 12% between 2020 and 2022.

In the field of service robots, IFR said sales of professional service robots rose 32 percent in 2018 to $9.2 billion. Logistics systems such as automated guided vehicles (AGVs) accounted for 41 percent of total sales, followed by inspection and maintenance robots with a whopping 39 percent. Service robots for personal and household use, led by household robots such as vacuum cleaners and lawn mowers, rose 15 percent to $3.7 billion in sales. .

The World Robot Report is the first to analyze the market for collaborative industrial robots. Nearly 14,000 cobots were launched in 2018, a 23 percent increase over the 11,100 units shipped in 2017, the IFR said.

“The automotive and electrical and electronic industries are major customers for robots, and despite a difficult year for them, the robotics industry delivered a satisfactory 2018 with record sales and we saw Vibrant market performance,” said IFR President Junji Tsuda. “Trade friction has created uncertainty in the global economy – customers tend to delay investment. But it is exciting that we are still on track to reach our target of 400,000 robot installations per year. In IFR’s future outlook In 2022, continued automation trends and technological improvements will lead to double-digit growth – an amount expected to reach 584,000 units in 2022.”

China holds the largest market share

Asia remains the world’s largest Industrial Robot market, and even though China and South Korea saw a decline in industrial robot installations, Japan saw an increase in robot installations, bringing Asia’s overall growth rate to 1 percent, IFR said.

In Europe, the second-largest market, installations grew by 14% and reached a new peak for the sixth year in a row. In the Americas, the growth rate reached 20% compared to 2017, the sixth consecutive year of record highs.

The top five industrial markets, accounting for 74% of the total global robot installations, are China, Japan, South Korea, the United States and Germany, according to the IFR report.

In the U.S., robot installations increased for the eighth year in a row, with total shipments of approximately 40,300 units, a 22 percent increase compared to 2017. According to the World Robotics Report: “Since 2010, the driver of growth in all U.S. manufacturing has been the continued development of automated production, which can strengthen U.S. industry both domestically and globally.” In terms of annual installations, the U.S. It has surpassed South Korea and ranked third.

The automotive industry still leads the way

The automotive industry remains the world’s largest robot application field, accounting for nearly 30% of the world’s total robot supply in 2018. After a strong 21% increase in installations in 2017, this level has been maintained, with a slight increase of 2% in 2018, the IFR said. “Investment in new vehicle capacity and modernization drives demand for robots. The use of new materials, the development of energy-efficient drive systems, and intense competition in all major automotive markets are driving investment,” IFR said.

Nearly 80% of the industrial robots in the automotive industry are distributed in 5 major markets: China (39,351 units), Japan (17,364 units), Germany (15,673 units), the United States (15,246 units), and South Korea (11,034 units).

Only 2,100 industrial robots are installed in Indian factories, IFR said. However, according to OICA’s production statistics, India is the fourth largest car producer in the world.

Electronics industry ranks second

In 2017, the electronics/electrical industry will replace the automotive industry as the most important customer for industrial robots, IFR said. But in 2018, global demand for electronic equipment and components fell sharply. “This target customer industry may be the industry most affected by the trade crisis, and you must know that Asian countries are leaders in the manufacture of electronic products and components.” IFR said that the number of robots installed in the electronics field has increased from 122,000 units in 2017. The peak level fell by 14% to 105,000 units in 2018.

Three major countries accounted for about 80% of the total installed field robots: China (43%), South Korea (19%), Japan (17%).

In addition, the number of robot installations in Vietnam increased by 7,080 units at one time in 2017, while only 689 units were applied in 2018.

Metals and Machinery

The third largest customer for robots is the metal and machinery industry, which accounted for 10% of total demand in 2018 (43,500 units), the IFR report said. “In recent years, manufacturers of metal products (excluding auto parts) and industrial machinery manufacturers have purchased a large number of robots,” said the IFR. Shipments fell slightly (1%) compared to 2017.

Countries deploying robots in the metal and machinery industry include: Finland (44%), Sweden (42%), Switzerland (40%), Belgium (30%), Austria (27%), Italy (26%), Denmark (21%) %), cobot analysis.

In its first cobot analysis, the IFR said its definition “means that a cobot is necessarily an industrial robot as defined in ISO 8372:2012” and said cobots are designed to perform tasks in the same workspace as a human worker.

“Despite the high media attention cobots receive, their installed base remains very low compared to larger industrial robots at 3.24%,” IFR said. However, compared to 2017, the organization reported , cobot installations increased by 23% in 2018.

Service robots are booming

Total sales of professional service robots rose 61 percent in 2018, with more than 271,000 units shipped (168,000 in 2017), IFR said.

Dr Susanne Bieller, Secretary General of the IFR, said: “In terms of value, sales forecasts for 2019 point to cumulative sales in the professional service robotics segment of approximately $12.6 billion. Robots for logistics, medical and field service are the most significant contributors. “

In terms of logistics systems, it was about $3.7 billion in 2018, an increase of 53% over 2017. In 2018, nearly 111,000 logistics systems were sold globally, a 60% increase from 2017 (69,000 units). IFR said: “The warehousing solutions of large e-commerce companies have strongly promoted the trend of non-manufacturing companies to use logistics systems. In addition, with the help of professional service robots, there is also a lot of room for development of hospital logistics operations.”

In addition to logistics, the largest category in the service sector is inspection and maintenance systems, with approximately 106,000 robots sold in 2018. This accounts for 39% of the professional service robot market, according to the IFR. “There is a wide range of inspection and maintenance robots, which make up a large percentage of the robot category, ranging from low-priced standard equipment to expensive custom robots.”

The third place for service robots – professional category is medical robots (up 50%, sales of 5,100 units), accounting for 31% of total sales. “Medical robots are the most expensive service robots, with an average unit price of $548,000, including accessories and services,” the IFR said. The federation added that Europe and Asia are seeing increasing interest in custom-made support robots for the elderly population. Growing demand is driving “considerable growth potential” for medical robots.

In 2018, agricultural robots, milking robots, and field robots for crop growing and gardening increased by 8%, with total sales reaching $1 billion, accounting for 11% of the professional service robot market. IFR expects sales of such robots to reach 2,400 units by 2022, with an average annual growth rate of about 50%.

Exoskeleton systems support ergonomic work by reducing the workload of workers. The system showed that 7,300 robots were sold in the field in 2018, up from 6,700 in 2017. “There is a lot of growth potential in the robotics market in this area,” IFR said.

Personal and domestic robots

The personal service robot market is also growing rapidly, IFR said. The company expects sales of more than 22.1 million robots (valued at $4.6 billion) of various types for personal and household tasks in 2019. By 2022, that number will reach 61.1 million units with a total value of $11.5 billion.

“Vacuums and robot vacuums will enter more and more homes around the world,” the IFR said. It is estimated that more than 17.6 million household robots, including automatic lawn mowers, pool cleaners and vacuums, will be sold in 2019. Sales are expected to grow at an average annual rate of 46%, with total sales exceeding 55 million units by 2022. “

Europe is mostly used in the medical field, and the US logistics market is in great demand

Finally, IFR says that service robot manufacturers in Europe and the US are important players, with market shares in both regions around 45%. However, American companies are very strong mainly in the field of logistics systems, while European companies are dominant in the field of medical robotics. European and Asian companies are the main producers of field robots, each accounting for around 45% of the market.

The Links:   SRDA-EAXA01A 3BSE020848R1


Pre:    Next: