MIR DATABANK: Review of China's industrial robot market in the first three quarters of 2020 and annual forecast

Development trend of listed companies in China's industrial robot industry

(Data source: MIR Databank)

*Total shipment count includes: ≤20kg 6-axis, >20kg 6-axis, SCARA, Collaborative, Delta

● In the first three quarters of 2020, China's industrial robot market shipments grew by 10% year-on-year. Industry: Mainly driven by downstream markets such as electronics, new energy, and metal processing; Product: Light-load industrial robots are the main factor in market growth. Based on current market conditions, MIR predicts that the scale of China's industrial robot market will reach 163,573 units in 2020, a year-on-year increase of 9.5%.

China's industrial robot market size and forecast for each quarter from 2019 to 2020

(Data source: MIR Databank)

● Affected by the epidemic in the first quarter , problems such as tightening demand in downstream industries, difficulty in resuming work in factories, and obstructed logistics and transportation emerged, and the demand in the industrial robot market fell sharply.

● In the second and third quarters , due to the good control of the epidemic in China, the downstream industries gradually recovered and the market demand for industrial robots was gradually released. Among them, the electronics industry was driven by Apple's industrial chain investment, smart wearables, 5G-related industries, etc., and rebounded strongly; investment in new energy vehicle-related projects continued to land; investment in emerging industries such as photovoltaics and lithium batteries also gradually recovered.

● In the fourth quarter , China's economy operated smoothly, and demand in major downstream industries continued to be prosperous. It is predicted that the industrial robot market will continue to maintain a steady growth rate.

Year-on-year growth rate and forecast of industrial robot shipments by industry

(Data source: MIR Databank)

● Electronics: The accelerated commercialization of 5G and the "big year" of investment in the electronics industry have driven a strong recovery in the electronics industry. The demand for robots in multiple market segments such as 5G mobile phones and their components, wireless headphones, smart watches, smart speakers, AR/VR, etc. has achieved rapid growth.

● Lithium battery: Power battery investment is strong in the second half of the year due to the recovery of the new energy vehicle industry. Consumer battery applications are becoming more diverse. In addition to laptop computers and mobile phone batteries, the demand for wireless headphones, Bluetooth speakers, and ETC batteries has exploded, driving the growth of robot demand.

● Photovoltaics: With the stabilization of the epidemic and the influence of policies, the photovoltaic industry has rebounded significantly in the second half of the year. The fourth quarter ushered in a peak season for demand. The "rush to install" phenomenon accelerated corporate investment and further released the demand for industrial robots.

● Metal processing: Metal processing involves many sub-industries. Driven by the fields of construction machinery, mask machines, kitchen utensils, shared bicycles, etc., the overall performance is good. Industrial robots are widely used in machine tool loading and unloading, arc welding, painting, grinding and other scenarios.

(Data source: MIR Databank)

● Driven by the electronics, lithium battery and photovoltaic industries, SCARA began to recover strongly in the second quarter, and the growth rate of the SCARA market in 2020 will turn positive year-on-year.

● ≤20kg 6-axis performs well, and its application in the electronics industry is further expanded, such as surface spraying of wireless headphones, polishing of precision parts, i watch performance testing, etc.; demand in metal processing loading and unloading and arc welding is growing. The ≤20kg 6-axis market will achieve positive growth in 2020.

● Delta is mainly used in food and beverage, medical supplies sorting, packaging and other fields. Driven by the epidemic, the Delta market growth rate will increase in 2020.

Industry application segmentation:

● Shift from traditional applications mainly in the automotive industry to large-scale applications in multiple industries.

● Electronics, automobiles, metal processing, logistics, ceramics, furniture, clothing, food, medicine and other industries.

Slightly differentiated product structure:

● The overall product structure type is relatively fixed.

● Slight differences in the application demand structure of individual industries.

Hardware convergence development:

● Product globalization requires standardization of data interfaces and structural interfaces.

● Hardware platform integration promotes the convergence of hardware architecture.

Application software enrichment:

● The increasing number of application segments has led to the increasing technological requirements of application software in the robotics industry.

● The core algorithms of industrial robot motion control and force control change with the application.

Initial applications of artificial intelligence:

● Initial application of industrial artificial intelligence in the field of machine vision.

● Big data and industrial Internet bring smart production.

● Foreign investment: localized production in China.

● Domestic capital: Increased production capacity and localization of parts and components.

Simplified product application:

● The structure and usability of industrial robots have been optimized, the operating system and programming have been simplified, and the installation, debugging, operation and maintainability have been improved.

Good progress has been made in market cultivation:

● In recent years, industrial robot manufacturers have increased the coverage and intensity of training, and more than 400 colleges and universities across the country have opened industrial robot-related majors.

● In recent years, a large amount of free training has been held for domestic industrial robots.

Improved technical service level & reduced after-sales service price:

● Domestic industrial robots have obvious advantages in technical services, fast service response speed and good user experience.

● Foreign brand industrial robots are also optimizing their after-sales service processes.