The latest International Federation of Robotics figures show global sales of US$16.5bn in 2018, with a total of 422,000 industrial robots shipped – up 6% compared to the previous year.
Asia maintained it’s position as the world’s largest market for industrial robots, though 2018 offered a mixed picture for the three largest Asian markets. Installations in China and the Republic of Korea declined, while Japan increased considerably.
Robot installations grew by 1% in Asia, and by 14% in the second largest market, Europe – a new peak for the sixth year in a row.
Growth rate across the Americas reached 20% more than the year before, which also marks a new record level for the sixth consecutive year.
Overall, IFR forecasts shipments in 2019 will recede from the record level in 2018, but expects an average growth of 12% per year from 2020 to 2022.
The latest International Federation of Robotics figures show global sales of US$16.5bn in 2018, with a total of 422,000 industrial robots shipped – up 6% compared to the previous year.
Asia maintained it’s position as the world’s largest market for industrial robots, though 2018 offered a mixed picture for the three largest Asian markets. Installations in China and the Republic of Korea declined, while Japan increased considerably.
Robot installations grew by 1% in Asia, and by 14% in the second largest market, Europe – a new peak for the sixth year in a row.
Growth rate across the Americas reached 20% more than the year before, which also marks a new record level for the sixth consecutive year.
Overall, IFR forecasts shipments in 2019 will recede from the record level in 2018, but expects an average growth of 12% per year from 2020 to 2022.
The latest International Federation of Robotics figures show global sales of US$16.5bn in 2018, with a total of 422,000 industrial robots shipped – up 6% compared to the previous year.
Asia maintained it’s position as the world’s largest market for industrial robots, though 2018 offered a mixed picture for the three largest Asian markets. Installations in China and the Republic of Korea declined, while Japan increased considerably.
Robot installations grew by 1% in Asia, and by 14% in the second largest market, Europe – a new peak for the sixth year in a row.
Growth rate across the Americas reached 20% more than the year before, which also marks a new record level for the sixth consecutive year.
Overall, IFR forecasts shipments in 2019 will recede from the record level in 2018, but expects an average growth of 12% per year from 2020 to 2022.
Robots designed for collaborative use
For the first time, World Robotics analyses the market for collaborative industrial robots (‘cobots’), designed to perform tasks in the same workspace as human workers.
The IFR definition implies that a cobot is necessarily an industrial robot as defined in ISO 8372:2012. Despite a very strong media attention of cobots, the number of units installed is still very low with a share of 3.24% only.
In 2018, less than 14,000 out of more than 422,000 industrial robots installed, were cobots. The year before that, roughly 11,100 units were cobots. From 2017 to 2018, annual installations of cobots increased by 23%.
