BOFIT Weekly Review 2016/28
China strengthens its position as the world’s largest market for industrial robots
The International Federation of Robotics (IFR) reports that about 248,000 industrial robots were sold globally last year, an increase of 12 % from 2014. China has led the global robot market since 2013. New robot sales climbed to 67,000 last year (an increase of 17 % y-o-y) and China’s share of the global industrial robot market rose to 27 %. Asian technological status is reflected in the fact that after China the next biggest markets for robot sales are South Korea (15 % globally) and Japan (14 %). The US accounts for 11 % of the industrial robot sales and Germany 8 %. In 2015, industrial robot sales to China exceeded the sales to all of Europe, even if European sales rose 10 % to about 50,000 units.
Car manufacturers have led the push for industrial automation globally. They accounted last year for 38 % of robot sales, but the volume of growth in robot sales today is slow. While the number of robots working in China’s car industry has risen rapidly, vast growth potential remains. The IFR reports that in 2014 there were just over 300 robots per 10,000 workers at Chinese carmakers, while carmakers in Japan had over 1,400 robots per 10,000 workers.
China has also risen rapidly among global robot manufacturers. Nearly a third of all industrial robots sold last year in China were manufactured locally. Although Chinese robot makers still mainly produce systems for fairly simple application, they aspire to advanced robotic capabilities. China’s home appliance giant Midea this week announced it was acquiring a 50 % stake in the German Kuka, the world’s largest manufacturer of industrial robots. The deal will increase its stake in Kuka to 64 %. Reuters reported last month that China’s largest industrial robot maker Siasun is looking to acquire firms in Europe. In June, a Chinese-European investment fund purchased an Italian robot manufacturer.
China’s rapid and continuous technological advancement was also evident last month when Chinese supercomputer Sunway TaihuLight took first place in the TOP500 supercomputer speed rankings. The Chinese already held the top position, but the latest breakthrough involved switching out traditional Intel processors with locally developed ShenWei processors. The new processors, however, slightly restrict the range of TaihuLight application areas compared to competing models.