Chinese Industrial Robot Makers Challenge Giants as Market Rockets to 649,000 Units by 2030

Incumbent OEMs face challenges from reduced Chinese demand, collaborative robot competition, and reshoring uncertainty

NEW YORK, March 11, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- China is the largest single industrial robot adopter, and the global demand for robots remains high. ABI Research, a global technology intelligence firm, forecasts shipments to grow from approximately 400,000 in 2024 to 649,000 by 2030, a steady CAGR of 7.4%. The umbrella term, industrial robot, encompasses high payload, high repeatability robotic arms. These include SCARA robots, often utilized for assembly tasks, delta robots which excel at rapid picking, and Cartesian robots, which can be deployed for material handling tasks. Industrial robots, the backbone of manufacturing economies, will continue to enjoy rising sales as geographic shifts in manufacturing trends begin to take root. Accordingly, revenues generated from industrial robot hardware sales are set to rise from US$14.7 billion in 2024 to US$22.6 billion by the end of the decade.

"Macro trends will continue to influence the industrial robot market as the decade progresses," states George Chowdhury, Robotics Industry Analyst at ABI Research. "Although the robotics market grew in 2024, a general slowdown of manufacturing markets was evident. The market is also becoming more competitive: several market leaders reported reductions in orders as China-based robotics OEMs begin to force incumbents out of certain regional markets. Uptake is further frustrated by collaborative robots demonstrating improvements in payload capabilities and declining ASPs. Small manufacturers present opportunities for both industrial and collaborative robot OEMs. Although collaborative robots may offer price and ease of use advantages, demand for the high repeatability and accuracy of industrial robotics will not abate."

The APAC region leads in industrial robot deployments, accounting for 70% of global shipments in 2024, with China alone representing nearly 40%. The automotive sector remains the top adopter, making up 38% of new shipments, followed by electronics assembly at 23%. Articulated robot arms, favored for their high payload capabilities in automotive manufacturing, made up 70% of all robot shipments. The incumbent industrial robot manufacturers include FANUC, ABB, KUKA,  Yaskawa, and Omron. Competing Chinese industrial robot vendors include SIASUN, STEP Electric, and Estun Automation.

"The industrial robotics landscape is clearly changing. Reshoring and near-shoring initiatives are yet to begin in earnest, while the massive influx of Chinese robots into the market threatens the continued growth of well-established European and Japanese OEMs. Demand for manufacturing will not decline, but we may be in the middle of a changing of the guard when it comes to industrial robot OEMs," Concludes Chowdhury.

These findings are from ABI Research's Industrial Robots market data report. This report is part of the company's Industrial, Collaborative & Commercial Robotics research service, which includes research, data, and ABI Insights.

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