The density of industrial robots in China exceeds that in the United States for the first time, and the application expands to more subdivided fields
Industrial robot density refers to the number of industrial robots used by every 10000 workers in the manufacturing industry. It is one of the key indicators to measure the degree of automation development in a country's manufacturing industry. According to the report issued by the International Federation of Robots (IFR) in December 2022, the density of industrial robots in China will reach 322 per 10000 workers in 2021, surpassing the United States for the first time and ranking fifth in the world. In the past decade, the density of industrial robots in China has increased by about 13 times.
The increasing density of industrial robots in China is mainly due to the continuous expansion of the industrial robot market and its application driven by the demand for intelligent manufacturing and the transformation and upgrading of the manufacturing industry as well as the capital market.
In terms of market scale, China has become the largest industrial robot application market in the world for many consecutive years, and the market scale has expanded year by year. According to the comprehensive survey data of the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), the scale of China's industrial robot market will reach US $8.7 billion in 2022, and this figure is expected to exceed US $11 billion by 2024. From the perspective of market segments and products, the prosperity of collaborative robots is relatively high, and the growth rate of domestic local manufacturers is leading, and the localization rate continues to increase. The market of six-axis robots with medium and large loads has grown significantly, with increasing entrants.
In terms of industrial application, the application breadth and depth of industrial robots in China have been continuously improved. According to the data, Chinese industrial robot applications have covered 60 industry categories and 168 industry categories. In addition, in order to achieve more efficient, safer and more intelligent patrol operations, intelligent patrol robots are also increasingly concerned by enterprises. According to the incomplete statistics of e-works, there are 156 domestic intelligent inspection robot manufacturers, which are widely used in power, petrochemical, rail transit, coal and other industries.
It is noteworthy that while the density of industrial robots continues to increase and the application industry and scene continue to expand, the industrial robot track also continues to attract the attention of capital, and the investment and financing market remains active, which also boosts the development of industrial robot industry and application. According to incomplete statistics, there were 93 investment and financing events in Chinese industrial robot market in 2022, covering robot body, core parts, robot gripper, robot vision, system integration and other sub-fields.
In general, the density of industrial robots in China has exceeded that in the United States for the first time, and the breadth and depth of application have been continuously improved, which is a gratifying progress. However, China's industrial robot industry still has problems such as low localization rate of core parts, insufficient independent innovation ability, and the degree of robot intelligence to be improved. There is still room to improve the density of industrial robots. Chinese industrial robot industry still needs to consolidate its foundation and move forward pragmatically.