China is the largest single industrial robot adopter, and the global demand for robots remains high. ABI Research, a global technology intelligence firm, forecasts shipments to grow from approximately 400,000 in 2024 to 649,000 by 2030, a steady compound annual growth rate of 7.4 percent.
The umbrella term, industrial robot, encompasses high payload, high repeatability robotic arms. These include SCARA robots, often utilized for assembly tasks, delta robots which excel at rapid picking, and Cartesian robots, which can be deployed for material handling tasks.
Industrial robots, the backbone of manufacturing economies, will continue to enjoy rising sales as geographic shifts in manufacturing trends begin to take root. Accordingly, revenues generated from industrial robot hardware sales are set to rise from $14.7 billion in 2024 to $22.6 billion by the end of the decade.
George Chowdhury, robotics industry analyst at ABI Research, says: “Macro trends will continue to influence the industrial robot market as the decade progresses.
“Although the robotics market grew in 2024, a general slowdown of manufacturing markets was evident. The market is also becoming more competitive: several market leaders reported reductions in orders as China-based robotics OEMs begin to force incumbents out of certain regional markets.
“Uptake is further frustrated by collaborative robots demonstrating improvements in payload capabilities and declining ASPs. Small manufacturers present opportunities for both industrial and collaborative robot OEMs.
“Although collaborative robots may offer price and ease of use advantages, demand for the high repeatability and accuracy of industrial robotics will not abate.”
The APAC region leads in industrial robot deployments, accounting for 70 percent of global shipments in 2024, with China alone representing nearly 40 percent. The automotive sector remains the top adopter, making up 38 percent of new shipments, followed by electronics assembly at 23 percent.
Articulated robot arms, favored for their high payload capabilities in automotive manufacturing, comprised 70 percent of all robot shipments. The incumbent industrial robot manufacturers include Fanuc, ABB, Kuka, Yaskawa, and Omron. Competing Chinese industrial robot vendors include Siasun, STEP Electric, and Estun Automation.
Chowdhury says: “The industrial robotics landscape is clearly changing. Reshoring and near-shoring initiatives are yet to begin in earnest. At the same time, the massive influx of Chinese robots into the market threatens the continued growth of well-established European and Japanese OEMs.
“Demand for manufacturing will not decline, but we may be in the middle of a changing of the guard when it comes to industrial robot OEMs.”
