Robot sales in North America soared to their highest level yet in the second quarter this year, with nearly six out of 10 purchases going to the automotive sector, a report from the Association for Advancing Automation (A3) shows.
The boom in robot sales marked a third straight record high during the period from April through June, with 59% of the orders coming from the automotive industry and the remainder led by a 13% jump in orders from the food & consumer goods industry, Ann Arbor, Michigan-based A3 said.
“While automotive entities have long been the frontrunner in deploying robotics and automation, the last few years have seen food & consumer goods, life sciences, and other industries grow at even higher rates,” A3 President Jeff Burnstein said in a release. “While this quarter shows a marked shift back to historic norms with more robots going to automotive than to any other industry, the continued growth of robotics in food & consumer goods companies especially demonstrates the ongoing need to automate warehouse logistics for handling the exploding growth of e-commerce.”
The numbers show that the 12,305 units sold in Q2 2022 is 25% more than sold in the same period in 2021 and 6% more than sold in the first quarter of 2022. By revenue, the Q2 2022 value of $585 million is the second best quarter ever for revenue, down 9% from the previous record quarter, which was Q1 2022. The market grew 26% and 29% for units ordered and revenue, respectively, over 2021.
