A slow economy and high interest rates have hampered robot sales, resulting in a 37 percent decline in orders and 20 percent drop sales revenue year-over-year.
A slow U.S. economy and high interest rates have taken a toll on robot orders in North American, resulting in a decline for the second quarter in a row after record purchases in 2021 and 2022.
The latest numbers from the Association for Advancing Automation (A3) show companies ordered 7,697 robots valued at $457 million from April to July 2023, a 37 percent decline in robot orders and 20 percent drop in value over the same period in 2022.
When combined with first quarter results, the robotics market in North America is down 29 percent compared to the first half of last year with a total of 16,865 robots ordered. This comes after a record 2022, where North American companies ordered 44,196 robots, 11 percent more than in 2021 over 2021, the previous record.
“Over the last five years, we’ve seen a steady acceleration of robot orders as all industries have struggled with a labor shortage and more non-automotive companies recognize the tremendous value automation provides,” said Alex Shikany, vice president of membership and business intelligence at A3.
”After this post-COVID surge, however, we’re seeing a drawback in purchases, exacerbated by the slow economy and high interest rates. While many companies continue to automate, others just don’t have the capital to invest right now, despite their struggle to find workers willing to do many of the dull, dirty and dangerous jobs that remain unfilled,” he said.
Jeff Burnstein, president of A3 says some companies are either not ready or not able to pull the trigger on an automation investment.
“When the economy improves, however, the companies who have learned about the latest innovations in automation and how they can help them increase productivity, deal with labor shortages and get to market faster will be ready,” said Burnstein.
Automotive versus Non-Automotive Equalizes
Non-automotive customers ordered more robots in the second quarter of 2023 than automotive customers, with 52 percent of units going to non-automotive industries and 48 percent going to automotive OEMs and component suppliers.
Both categories were down compared to the second quarter of last year. The strongest demand in Q2 came from the semiconductor and electronics industries, followed by life sciences/pharma and biomedical, plastics and rubber and metals, with automotive components, food & consumer goods and automotive OEMs showing the biggest drops.
