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Supply: A3
Important declines within the automotive part and semiconductors industries led to a different drop in North American robotic gross sales, in line with the Affiliation for Advancing Automation (A3). Within the second quarter of 2024, 7,123 robots have been ordered in North America, which A3 mentioned is a decline of 9.7% in contrast with Q2 2023.
The entire items offered have been valued at $489 million, which A3 mentioned is a 6.9% enhance in contrast with the identical timeframe final 12 months.
The brand new report from A3 mentioned 15,705 robots valued at $983 million have been ordered by North American corporations in the course of the first half of 2024. This marked a 7.9% decline in items and a 6.8% drop in income 12 months over 12 months.
A3 beforehand mentioned robotic gross sales in North America have been down 6% in the first quarter of 2024 in contrast with the identical interval in 2023. Firms bought 8,582 robots from January by way of March for $494 million, A3 mentioned.
In 2023, North American robot orders declined by 30% after two years of report gross sales.
The business affiliation mentioned the Q2 efficiency may be attributed to broader financial and manufacturing sector dynamics. The rise in income regardless of a drop in items ordered suggests a pattern towards investing in superior, higher-value robots.
“This shift could also be pushed by the necessity for extra subtle automation to deal with labor shortages and enhance manufacturing effectivity amid financial uncertainties,” said A3.
Supply: A3
Manufacturing slowdown hits robotic gross sales
It’s necessary to notice A3 solely collects gross sales knowledge on conventional industrial robots. It doesn’t acquire knowledge about autonomous cellular robots (AMRs) or collaborative robotic arms. The totals are based mostly on numbers submitted by members and embrace gross sales by North American robotic suppliers to corporations in North America solely.
A significant cause for the continued decline in unit gross sales is the slowdown in sectors which are traditionally sturdy for robotics, together with automotive elements and semiconductors, which declined 39% and 40%, respectively. Non-automotive industries continued to show to robotics as food and shopper items and life sciences and pharmaceutical sectors grew 86% and 48%, respectively.
“After the primary quarter, members we spoke with have been typically optimistic about the remainder of the 12 months,” mentioned Alex Shikany, vice chairman of membership and market intelligence at A3. “Whereas it seems there have been nonetheless headwinds the business was experiencing within the second quarter, we proceed to listen to from corporations [that] are optimistic concerning the second half of the 12 months relative to the primary half.”
A3 entered 2024 optimistic that robotic gross sales would rebound after a tricky 2023. The business had back-to-back report gross sales years in 2021 and 2022, which was the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. However unit gross sales haven’t bounced again as anticipated.
Here’s a fast take a look at how just a few different robotics functions carried out in Q2 2024, in line with A3:
- Dealing with operations/machine tending: Orders grew by 4%, whereas shipments declined by 2%.
- Welding and soldering: Orders and shipments declined considerably by 31% and 15%, respectively.
- Processing: Skilled progress of 1,233% (over a small order quantity in 2023).
- Assembling and disassembling: Orders and shipments fell by 28% and 13%, respectively.
Be taught concerning the international robotics business at RoboBusiness
The decline in North American robotics gross sales is magnified even additional compared with China, the world’s main robotics market. This week, China laid out a plan for how it’ll use robotics as an engine for major economic growth.
“China’s speedy improvement in industrial robotic automation is extraordinary,” mentioned the Worldwide Federation of Robotics (IFR).
The state of the worldwide robotics business will probably be a significant subject of dialogue at RoboBusiness, which is produced by The Robotic Report. The occasion, which takes place Oct. 16 to 17 in Santa Clara, Calif., will focus closely on driving robotics innovation.
RoboBusiness will characteristic greater than 70 consultants on stage sharing finest practices for business robotics improvement. There will probably be over 70 exhibitors on the showfloor, a Girls in Robotics Luncheon, a robotics startup competitors, a startup bootcamp, 10+ hours of devoted networking, and way more.
