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The event finished on 19/11/2011
Next Robotica
16 - 19 November 2011
7 - 9 November 2012
Service robots: a market that beats the crisis
According to the “World Robotics 2009 Service Robots” report (www.worldrobotics-online.org), published at the end of September by the department of statistics of the IFR (International Federation of Robotics), at the end of 2008 there were 63,000 “non-manufacturing” robots for professional activities in the world, for a total value of USD 11.2 billion. Of these, 30% was used for defence, rescue and safety, 23% for agricultural and farming purposes (above all for milking) and 9% were “cleaning robots”. The figures continue with 8% each for medical and marine uses, construction and demolition (7%), mobile robotic platforms for general use (6%) and, last but not least, robots used in logistics with 5%. Along with robots used for professional reasons, we must also consider those used for domestic purposes, which, also at the end of 2008, were 4.4 million. Almost all of these were vacuum cleaner robots (940,000 were sold last year, 50% more than in 2007), a small percentage were grass cutter robots (21,000 sold in 2008), followed by entertainment robots, estimated at 2.8 million in 2008. Despite the economic crisis, forecasts for the market of “service robots” for 2009-2012 are very interesting, according to the report from the IFR. At the end of this period, there will be about 49,000 new robots for professional uses. The applications undergoing growth will be, according to the “World Robotics 2009 Service Robots” report, those for defence, rescue and safety, agriculture and farming, and logistics. As far as robots for personal use are concerned, by 2012, 11.6 million will be sold, of which 4.8 domestic and 6.8 for the entertainment and leisure sector.
Industrial robots: 2009 – a year to forget
The setbacks of the global economic crisis were more burdensome for the industrial robot sector. If, above all thanks to the first six months, 2008, with more than 113 thousand robots sold worldwide, saw good results (in line with the previous year, and lower only to 2005, which was the year of the boom in sales of “manufacturing” robots), the forecasts of the “World Robotics 2009 Industrial Robots” (www.worldrobotics-online.org) for this year foresee a decrease in sales of about 40%, for a total of just over 68 thousand robots sold. The decrease will be more evident in the Americas (-47%), (-12% in 2008 compared to the previous year) and in Asia/Australia (-40%; with an increase in sales of 4% in 2008). Less accentuated in Europe (-36%), where, last year, Germany, the first continental market for industrial robots, gained +4% compared to 2007, and where there was a peak (+22%) in Eastern European countries (in particular in Poland, Hungary and Slovakia). In 2008 in Italy, the second European area for sales after Germany, saw a decrease of 18% compared to 2007, while France was not so bad with -5%. But how many “manufacturing” robots are there installed in industries worldwide? Calculating the total number of robots sold as of the end of the 1960s, when their installation began, the “World Robotics 2009 Industrial Robots” report states that, by the end of 2008, the number was about 1,970,000. However, considering that the average life of these machines varies from 12 to 15 years, the report of the IFR assesses that there are between 1,036,000 and 1,300,000 industrial robots up and running. Starting from the most cautious figure, and considering an annual growth rate of less than 1% (caused by the economic crisis and the serious decreases in sales of this year) the report foresees, moreover, that at the end of 2012 there will be just over 1,056,000 “manufacturing” robots in service. Asia will be at the top of the list, with 523,000 machines installed (+64% in China and +26% in South Korea, but -16% in Japan, compared to 2008), ahead of Europe with 357,300 (+4% compared to 2008) and the Americas, where the increase compared to 2008 will be only 0.25%.