As The World’s Largest Robot Market, “Made In China” Is Trying To Catch Up

There are few workers in the huge factory. Instead, rows of robots neatly and perfectly manufacture and assemble products on the assembly line, and then transport them to all parts of the world This is a scene depicted in countless science fiction films. At present, China is the most likely place to realize these scenarios.

According to CCTV finance and economics, China has become the world’s largest robot market. From January to October this year, the output of industrial robots in China was 298000 sets, a year-on-year increase of 51.9%. The report also pointed out that the advanced manufacturing industry represented by industrial robots is becoming a new driving force for China’s economic growth.

As a traditional industrial power, in the ever-changing changes, the domestic robot market comes first at the “Chinese speed”.

Hot, industrial pulse supports 10 billion market

The report also mentioned that the scale of China’s robot market is expected to reach 83.9 billion yuan in 2021, with an average growth rate of 18.3% from 2016 to 2023, including 44.57 billion yuan for industrial robots, 30.26 billion yuan for service robots and 9.07 billion yuan for special robots.

The industrial robot category, which accounts for the largest proportion, is expected to exceed 58.9 billion yuan in 2023. It can be said that Chinese industry has largely supported half of the domestic robot market.

According to the report of the International Federation of robots, China is the main end-use market for industrial robots in 2019, with an annual new installation of 141000 units. Since 2013, China has occupied the first place in the world in the number of industrial robots for eight consecutive years.

Data show that China’s industrial added value increased from 12 billion in 1952 to more than 30 trillion in 2018, an increase of 971 times in just 50 years, with an average annual growth of 11%. By 2019, China will become the only country in the world with all industrial categories.

The strong industrial pulse in the new era undoubtedly drives a large demand for robots.

It is understood that emerging industries such as new energy vehicles have become the fastest growing part in China’s industrial field, and “automation and digitization” is one of the remarkable characteristics in its manufacturing process. For example, SAIC Volkswagen new energy automobile factory has adopted more than 1400 industrial robots, and the automation rate of the final assembly workshop is nearly 45% higher than that of the traditional workshop.

Coupled with the impact of epidemic factors, major factories are facing the problem of recruitment and commencement. Facing the urgent crisis of capacity stagnation, automation has become the first way to solve the urgent problem. Therefore, in 2020, when the global robot market declined due to the epidemic, the domestic market rose instead of falling, and the market scale reached 42.25 billion, an increase of 18.9% year-on-year compared with 2019.

With the increasing demand and solid industrial manufacturing foundation, in the eyes of robot enterprises all over the world, China’s market has undoubtedly become an endless blue ocean.

Breaking the rule, domestic forces catch up

Although the market is huge, in fact, 10 years ago, China’s industrial robot market was dominated by foreign enterprises.

KUKA of Germany, abb of Switzerland and Yaskawa electric and Fanuc of Japan are known as the “four families” of industrial robots in the world, with the most advanced technology and the most comprehensive industrial line. They were also the four mountains standing on the domestic market at that time. According to the data, these four enterprises accounted for more than 80% of the market share in about 10 years.

Now, domestic robot enterprises have a tendency to catch up. The most famous enterprises are Nanjing Easton, Anhui EFT, Guangzhou CNC and Xinsong, which are known as the “four domestic dragons”. According to relevant data, the market share of pure domestic industrial robots has been rising steadily and is expected to exceed 40% in 21 years.