From the data point of view, the development of industrial robots has slowed down, and service robots are still popular

Industrial Robot development slows down

The release is the global sales data for 2018. Among them, the sales volume of global industrial robots exceeded 400,000 units in 2018, and the specific estimate was 422,000 units, an increase of 6% over the previous year. However, the industry has stated that it is currently a “cold season” for Robot companies. Therefore, in 2019, the product sales of the entire industry are expected to be flat or slightly reduced, estimated at around 421,000 units. It is expected that the industry will start to pick up in 2022 and will grow significantly, reaching 584,000 units, with an average annual increase of 12%.

From a regional perspective, Asia is still the main region for industrial robot sales, especially China, with a sales volume of 154,000 units, which is twice as much as the second-placed Japan, 55,200 units. But China’s growth has slowed and the economic situation remains grim.

In terms of industry, the top three industries in terms of sales of industrial robots are automobiles, electronics/electrical appliances, metal processing and machinery industries. Among them, the sales volume of the automobile industry increased slightly compared with the previous year (2%), the sales volume of the metal processing and machinery industry slightly decreased (1%) compared with the previous year, and the sales volume of the electronics/electrical appliance industry fluctuated greatly. An increase of 33% in 2018 compared with the previous year, a sharp decrease of 14%.

Of particular note are collaborative robots. The IFR counts collaborative robots separately from traditional industrial robots. In 2017, the sales volume of collaborative robots was 11,000 units, and in 2018, it was 14,000 units.

Global service robot sales were $12.9 billion in 2018

According to the “Global Robotics 2019: Service Robots Report” submitted by IFR, global service robot sales in 2018 were US$12.9 billion. Among them, sales of dedicated service robots reached $9.2 billion, an increase of 32% over the previous year. In the dedicated service robot market, automated guided vehicles (AGVs) for logistics systems accounted for the largest share of sales (41%), followed by inspection robots (39%), with these two segments accounting for 80% of the total market share. %. The personal and household service robot market, dominated by household robots such as vacuuming and lawn mowing robots, reached $3.7 billion in sales, an increase of 15% from the previous year. IFR forecasts strong sales growth in the dedicated and personal service robot market in the future (2019-2022).

Dedicated service robots

In 2018, the total sales of dedicated service robots increased by 61% to more than 271,000 units (about 168,000 units in 2017).

Sales of logistics system robots are estimated to be close to $3.7 billion, up 53% from the previous year, with nearly 111,000 logistics equipment sold throughout the year, up 60% from 2017 (69,000). Among them, 7,700 AGVs were sold in manufacturing environments and 103,000 units were sold in non-manufacturing environments, mainly used in warehouse solutions for large e-commerce companies.

About 106,000 inspection robots were sold.

Medical robot sales reached 5,100 units, with sales of $2.8 billion. Medical robots are the most expensive service robot products, with an average unit price of $548,000.

Agricultural robot sales of $1 billion.

There are 7,300 exoskeleton devices, and IFR analysis believes that this kind of robot has high growth potential.

Personal/Home Service Robots

The personal/home service robot market has various products, which IFR mainly divides into family task type and entertainment service type.

In 2018, home service robots sold $2.5 billion, or about 12.2 million units.

Personal entertainment products $1.1 billion, about 4.1 million units.