Global sales of industrial robots will grow 15 per cent on average year-on-year until 2018, according to new statistics from the International Federation of Robotics (IFR).
The IFR estimates the global market value for industrial robotics to be US $32 billion for 2014.
The number of robot units sold will double to around 400,000 by 2018, the IFR predicts, and with machine vision sales closely linked to industrial robots this is encouraging for the vision market.
‘The main driver of this development is the global competition of industrial production. The automation witnessed by the automotive sector and the electrical/electronics industry comes out top here with a market share of 64 per cent,’ commented Arturo Baroncelli, president of the IFR.
The IFR estimates that more than one-in-three of the global supply of industrial robots will be installed in the Republic of China by 2018. Chinese production industries currently have a robotic density of just 36 units per 10,000 employees. This is compared to South Korea, which deploys 478 industrial robots per 10,000 employees. Japan is second with 315 units per 10,000 employees, followed by Germany at 292 units.
The statistics on robotic density indicate opportunities for growth in the USA, according to the IFR. Production industries in the US currently deploy just 164 industrial robots per 10,000 employees. The USA is currently strengthening its industrial production, and, in 2014, the number of installed robots increased by 11 per cent to around 26,000 units.
In 2014, German industrial robot sales figures increased by around 10 per cent to 20,100 units.
Last year was a new record year with about 100,000 newly installed robots globally, up 43 per cent compared to 2013. A large proportion of robotics technology in 2014 was purchased by suppliers of electronic components to the automotive industry.
In 2014 the electrical/electronics sector robot sales increased by 34 per cent compared to the previous year. The strong demand for industrial robots in the production of consumer electronics, communication equipment as well as computer and medical technology adds up to a total global market share of 21 per cent.
Further information:
