If we look at market sales, globally, the market size of mobile robots will equal or even slightly surpass that of industrial robots in 2024, but this time point for the Chinese market may be another 3-5 years later.
What is the basis for our judgment?
The main reason is that the main battlefield for industrial robots is still at the manufacturing end, and the largest driving market is still in China; however, mobile robots have two major application scenarios, production logistics automation and warehouse logistics automation, with dual engines and strong market demand in multiple regions.
Of course the basis of this judgment seems to be rather official, and I would like to share a few more personal views today as additional basis.
In the showroom, industrial robots are often shown for their "single-player" capabilities, speed, accuracy, and multi-angle and freedom of operation imitating human arms, while mobile robots are less cool and less personalized, and often seen as a group of sweepers in "group combat".
The first is the advantage of easy scaling and easy replication
Remember that in 17 or 18 years, the deployment of 100-200 mobile robots in a logistics warehouse was already a big project, but now when you look at mobile robot projects, there are mature solutions for large-scale deployment of mobile robots in various industries, including e-commerce, footwear, medicine, automotive, photovoltaics, electronics, and so on. From individual industry pilot deployment to multi-industry spread application, this only took about 3 years; while the application of industrial robot popularization and promotion speed is much inferior.
The second advantage is that collaboration is strong
Interestingly, when it comes to collaboration, people are most likely to think of collaborative robots rather than mobile robots, yet in actual solutions, the collaborative nature of mobile robots has been reflected in all aspects of the task execution process, including the ability to "team up" between machines; obstacle avoidance in path planning; and the ability to work with people and materials in scenarios. This includes the ability to work with people, materials, and machines in the path planning process, and the ability to dock with the best precision and tempo between the robot and the production line. All of this makes mobile robots a natural fit for today's flexible production and logistics automation.
More players and more activity in the mobile robotics market
Industrial robots have always been dominated by the "Big Four". But in the mobile robotics world, there is a lot of activity, with traditional AGV manufacturers, emerging AMR manufacturers, forklift manufacturers, system integrators, and equipment manufacturers, all of whom participate with their own strengths, and the market share ranking is changing every year.
Although it is a common feature in the early stage of the industry, it is quite beneficial for expanding application scenarios, cultivating market usage habits, and enhancing the maturity of solutions, which keeps the vitality of an industry development.
