Cobots to account for 30% of total robot market by 2027
A new market report released by Interact Analysis titled The Collaborative Robot Market – 2019 indicates strong and sustained growth for the collaborative robot industry.
In 2018, global revenues from cobot production exceeded $550 million. This was almost a 60% increase over 2017; and over 19,000 cobots were shipped. The report forecasts that revenues for cobots will reach $5.6 billion in 2027, accounting for almost one third of the total robotics market, and that <5kg and 5-9 kg cobots, popular in small to medium-sized industrial settings, will represent the majority of sales in 2023.
In the next five years, the fastest growing regions for collaborative robot shipments will be China and the USA. Material handling, assembly and pick & place will be the three biggest applications of collaborative robots. But these functions, which accounted for 75% of cobot revenues in 2018, will drop to below of 70% total revenues by 2023, as other functions for cobots are developed. The use of cobots in non-industrial applications will play a significant role in the coming years – in sectors such as life sciences, logistics, and the hospitality sector. The report forecasts that logistics will surpass automotive to be the second largest end user of cobots by 2023, with electronics in first place.
To learn more about cobot applications in material handling and logistics, make plans to attend MODEX 2020, March 9-12 in Atlanta.
