Industrial Robotics Market Expected to Triple by 2025

Industrial robots are used in factories around the world, and are commonly used to build other machines: vehicles, computers, appliances, and more. As consumers invest in more new technology, the market for industrial robots is forecasted to increase 175% over the next 9 years, according to recent reports.

The biggest driver of this growth will be collaborative robotics. Yes, the larger, automated industrial arms will still be building machines in manufacturing plants across the globe, but this newer generation of manufacturing robots will account for roughly 34% of sales by 2025. To put this growth into perspective, only 3% of industrial robots sold in 2016 were collaborative robots.

These collaborative robots are generally smaller and designed to work safely alongside their human counterparts. They have many sensors which help them to respond quicker and make better decisions when in proximity of another machine or human. Collaborative robots are typically much more affordable than traditional machines, ranging from $25,000 to $45,000. Factory floor robots can cost over $100,000 per machine.

Smaller parts and a smaller price tag make collaborative robots much more appealing to manufacturers all over the world, and many plants are starting to include these robots on their production lines. Baxter, a collaborative robot developed by Rethink Robotics, is perhaps the most famous example of one of these perceptive, responsive, nimble machines.

The majority of industrial robots sold worldwide is made up of automotive manufacturing robots. However, as robots become smaller, more affordable, and adaptable, it is likely that the demand for robots in the electronics manufacturing industry will match or exceed the automotive manufacturing industry by 2025.

The market value for industrial robots is expected to reach $14 billion by the end of 2017, up 13% from the previous year. By 2025, the market is projected to hit $33.8 billion. In 2016, the global industrial robotics market was only around $12.3 billion. In less than a decade, the market value of industrial robotics is expected to triple.

Factories around the globe are already buying more robots now than they have in the last several years. There were 32% more North American robot sales in Q1 of 2017 than in the previous year. Growth is imminent!