Driven by the resurgence in robot orders from automotive companies, the North American robotics market set all-time records in both robots sold and value in 2022. According to a report from the Association for Advancing Automation (A3), North American companies ordered 44,196 robots valued at $2.38 billion last year, representing increases of 11% and 18%, respectively, over 2021, the previous record.
More than 50% of sales came from the automotive industry, which ordered 23,807 robots, up from 16,752 in 2021. While orders from nonautomotive industries slowed from the previous three years, unique applications continued to emerge in such industries as food services, construction, and agriculture, such as robots cooking and serving food, dry walling, and even harvesting and picking.
“Although labor shortage and supply chain issues impact nearly all industries in North America, automakers’ public commitment to move to electric vehicles (EVs) has set in motion a resurgence of robot orders in this market,” said Jeff Burnstein, president of A3.
Big orders in first nine months of 2022 compensated for a slight drop in Q4.
In the first nine months of 2022, North American companies purchased 35,804 robots, up 24% over the same period in 2021. While Q4 orders slowed, with companies ordering only 8,392 robots, total numbers for the year from all industries resulted in the 11% record over 2021.
