Collaborative Robot Market to See CAGR of 50.31% from 2018 to 2025

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The collaborative robot market is estimated to grow from $710 million in 2018 to $12.3 billion by 2025, at a CAGR of 50.31% from 2018 to 2025. Reduced cost of ownership, thereby increasing return on investment (RoI); increased investments in automation by industries to support the evolution of Industry 4.0; rise in the adoption of co-robots by small- and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs); high integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into existing robotics infrastructure; and enhancements in 3D machine vision technology are a few key factors driving the collaborative robot market growth. Additionally, the ability of co-bots to offer safe working conditions creates substantial demand for co-bots from the automotive, electronics, metals & machining, plastics and polymers, and food and beverages industries. However, lack of capabilities related to faster cycle time and repeatability and high installation cost of these robots for low-volume production applications still act as key restraining factors for the market growth.

Co-bots with up to 5 kg payload capacity held the largest market share, in terms of value and volume, in 2017, and a similar trend is likely to continue from 2018 to 2025.However, the market for co-bots having payload capacity between 5 and 10 kg is expected to grow at the highest CAGR from 2018 to 2025.

This growth is mainly attributed to the expected demand for collaborative robots with medium payload capacity in industries such as automotive, furniture and equipment, and metals and machining. Co-bots within this payload capacity range can perform all the collaborative operations that the co-bots with up to 5 kg can do, and they can also meet the intended application requirements of the widest range of end-user industries. 

Automotive, electronics, and metals and machining are the key industries (in terms of market shares) in the global collaborative robot market in 2017.Co-bots are used to perform many assembling tasks, which are extensively used in the automotive industry. 

These robots are further used to perform various other tasks, such as pick and place, quality inspection, packaging and palletizing, machine tending, and material handling, across the automotive production line while deploying and re-deploying co-bots in time- and cost-effective manner without impacting the overall layout of the production line. 

Europe held the largest share of the collaborative robot market in 2017 and is expected to be surpassed by the APAC region by 2025.This high growth of Asia Pacific is expected to be led by the increasing demand for collaborative robots in China, Japan, and South Korea, especially for industries such as electronics, automotive, and metals and machining.