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The Affiliation for Advancing Automation (A3) tracks the variety of robots bought to North American corporations every quarter. | Supply: A3
37% fewer robots had been bought in April by way of June of 2023 than throughout the identical interval of 2022, in response to the Affiliation for Advancing Automation’s (A3) newest report. This slowdown within the robotics business is because of a low US financial system and excessive rates of interest, in response to A3.
That is the second quarter in a row the robotics business has seen a decline in gross sales in North America, following a record-breaking 2021 and 2022. From April to July of 2023, North American corporations ordered 7,697 robots valued at $457 million, a 37% decline in robotic orders and 20% drop in worth from the identical interval in 2022.
For all the yr up to now, the North American robotics market has ordered 16,865 robots, down 29% in comparison with the primary half of final yr.
“During the last 5 years, we’ve seen a gradual acceleration of robotic orders as all industries have struggled with a labor scarcity and extra non-automotive corporations acknowledge the large worth automation gives,” Alex Shikany, vice chairman of membership and enterprise intelligence at A3, stated. ”After this post-COVID surge, nonetheless, we’re seeing a downside in purchases, exacerbated by the sluggish financial system and excessive rates of interest. Whereas many corporations proceed to automate, others simply don’t have the capital to take a position proper now, regardless of their wrestle to search out employees keen to do lots of the boring, soiled and harmful jobs that stay unfilled.”
Whereas gross sales have slowed down in 2023, each 2021 and 2022 had been report years for North American robotic gross sales. North American corporations ordered 44,196 robots in 2022, an 11% enhance from 2021, and far of these gross sales occurred within the first 9 months of the yr.
On the finish of 2021, and into 2022, the business noticed three record-high quarters in a row. Gross sales started to sluggish in Q3, although they had been nonetheless larger than in the identical quarter in 2021.
In Q2 of this yr, non-automotive prospects ordered extra robots than automotive prospects, with 52% of items going to non-automotive industries and 48% going to automotive OEMs and element suppliers. Each classes are down in comparison with the second quarter of final yr.
The strongest demand for robots in Q2 got here from the semiconductor and electronics industries adopted by life sciences/pharma and biomedical, plastics and rubber, and metals. Automotive parts, meals and client items, and automotive OEMs confirmed the largest drops.
It needs to be famous A3 solely collects gross sales information on conventional industrial robots. It doesn’t gather information about autonomous cell robots or collaborative robotic arms. If A3 recorded gross sales for all these robots, too, gross sales numbers could be larger.
