Q1 2022 sees record robot sales in N. America

North American companies posted record single-quarter purchases of robots in the first quarter (Q1) of this year, with 11,595 robots sold at a value of $646 million. The Association for Advancing Automation (A3) announced that the numbers represent growth of 28 percent and 43 percent, respectively, over the first quarter of 2021, and 7 percent and 25 percent, respectively, over the previous best quarter, which was the fourth quarter of last year. Double-digit growth was seen in every industry segment during the same quarter of 2021.

“Every industry, including agriculture, construction, retail and hospitality, is now looking at how they can take advantage of robotics to make their companies more successful,” said Alex Shikany, A3’s VP of membership and business intelligence. 

For seven out of the last nine quarters, non-automotive customers have ordered more robots than automotive customers. Non-automotive customers ordered 6,122 units in the first quarter, compared to 5,476 ordered by automotive-related customers.

For the plastics and rubber industry, sales of robots were up 29 percent in Q1 compared to the same period in 2021, while they rose 21 percent for food and consumer goods, 14 percent for life sciences/pharma/biomed, and 56 percent for all other industries. Unit sales to automotive OEMs were up 15 percent, while orders from automotive component companies were up 22 percent.

“As robots continually become easier to use and more affordable, we expect to see adoption continue to rise in every industry, and at companies of all sizes,” A3 President Jeff Burnstein said. “There are hundreds of thousands of companies in North America who have yet to install even one robot.”