47 reports dissect and examine the robot industry

The robotics industry has graduated to be big business — at least for research firms. 47 different reports on subjects ranging from broad to very drilled-down views of the industry are analyzed and projected upon with widely differing forecasts.

Below are short profiles of each of those 47 reports. Many of the reports duplicate the coverage of others and frequently differ on forecasts. Some are marginally useful; others are chock full of valuable information. Bottom line, all the reports are forecasting positive double-digit growth for most segments of the robotics industry.

Industrial robotics (13)

• Global industrial robots, Dec 2015, 113 pages, Grade Market Data, $1,200
  The report forecasts that the number of industrial robots in use will increase from 1.658 million units in 2015 to a new peak of 2.96 million by 2020.
• Global industrial robotics, Jan 2016, 129 pages, Hoovers Research, $3,850
  Forecasts their take on the top 18 robotic companies for the period 2016 to 2022.
• Global industrial robotics in heavy industries, Feb 2016, 46 pages, TechNavio, $2,500
  Forecasts the market for industrial robotics in heavy industries to grow at a CAGR of 6% during the period 2016-2020.
• Global automotive robotics, Nov 2015, 167 pages, BIS Research, $3,395
  Forecasts a “dynamic era of growth due to the rising demand for vehicles of all types.”
• Global articulated robots, Dec 2015, 123 pages, TechNavio, $2,500
  Forecasts this subset to grow at a CAGR of 16.27 over the period 2015-2020.
• Global assembly-line robots, Dec 2015, 54 pages, TechNavio, $2,500
  Predicts these robots to grow steadily at a CAGR of 7% through 2020.
• Industrial robots in China, Mar 2016, 60 pages, China Research & Intelligence, $2,400
  Forecasts that CAGR of annual installation of China’s industrial robots will surpass 20% during the period to 2020.
• Robot industry in China, Mar 2016, 131 pages, QY Research, $3,200
  The report focuses on China major leading industry players providing information such as company profiles, product picture and specification, capacity, production, price, cost, revenue and contact information.
• Global welding robots market, Sept 2015, 69 pages, TechNavio, $2,500
  Forecasts this segment to grow at a CAGR of 6.09% through 2019.
• Global and Chinese robotic welding systems, Jan 2016, 150 pages, Prof Research
  This report explores Chinese vendors in detail and presents capacity, production value, and 2011-2016 market shares for each company.
• Industrial robots in food and beverage, Nov 2015, 167 pages, TechNavio, $2,500
  Global industrial robotics used in the food and beverage industry to multiply at a CAGR of close to 29% during the forecast period.
• Material handling robots, Nov 2015, 61 pages, TechNavio, $2,500
  The global material handling robotics market to grow at a significant rate of nearly 9% and exceeding $20 billion by 2019.
• Cartesian/Gantry/Rectilinear industrial robots, Feb 2016, 124 pages, Grace Market Data, $2,000
  The use of Cartesian robots, often used as a CNC machine or for milling or drawing, is growing and this report expects that growth to continue through 2021.

Mobile robots & unmanned air, land and sea vehicles (15)

• Global agriculture robotics, Nov 2015, 171 pages, Global Industry Analysts $4,500
  Focuses on unit shipments by 46 profiled companies covering weeding, harvesting, UAS, driverless systems, crop scouting, greenhouse operations, livestock farming and milking robots.
• Global AGV industry, Mar 2016, 125 pages, Research in China, $2,400
  Reports that units in 2015 were up 35% from 2014 and that 27% of global total was in China, up 36% from 2014.
• Global drones market, Mar 2016, 55 pages, Daedal Research, $800
  Profiles key players 3D Robotics, AeroVironment and DJI.
• Global drones market, Mar 2016, 1,114 pages, Wintergreen Research, $4,100
  Forecasts the worldwide market at $6.8 bn in 2015 to $36.9 bn by 2022.
• Global UAV market, Jan 2016, 67 pages, TechNavio, $2,500
  Forecasts the global UAV market to grow at a CAGR of 10.16% during the period 2016 to 2020.
• Global UAV market analysis, Feb 2016, 200 pages, BIS Research, $3,999
  Forecasts that the commercial drones marketplace will have exponential growth in the next 5 years.
• Global defense drones, Dec 2015, 46 pages, TechNavio, $2,000
  Defense drones market forecast to grow at a CAGR of 6% through 2020.
• Global civil and military UAV industry, Oct 2015, 112 pages, Lucintel, $3,900
  Forecasts the combined UAV industry to grow at a CAGR of 7.1% from 2015 to 2020.
• Global small UAV market, Jan 2016, 72 pages, TechNavio, $2,500
  Forecasts growth at a CAGR of 6.52% during the period 2015-2020.
• Unmanned underwater vehicles market, Mar 2016, 255 pages, Markets and Markets, $4,650
  The global market for UUV, ROV and AUV is projected to grow from $2.29bn in 2015 to $4bn by 2020 at a CAGR of 11.9%.
• Global aerial imaging market, Mar 2016, 52 pages, TechNavio, $2,500
  Forecasts the global aerial imaging market to grow at a CAGR of 13.28% during the period 2016-2020 as the transition from high-cost piloted aircraft takes place.
• Global unmanned ground vehicles market, Sep 2015, 123 pages, Markets and Markets, $4,650
  The global UGV market is projected to grow from $6.4 billion in 2015 to $18.6 billion by 2020.
• Global unmanned sea systems, Dec 2015, 55 pages, TechNavio $2,500
  ​Forecasts market growth of 6% CAGR during the period from 2016 to 2020.
• Global oil & gas drones, Feb 2016, 129 pages, Hoovers Research, $3,850
  This report analyzes market dynamics such as drivers, constraints, opportunities, threats and challenges.
• North American oil & gas drones, Jan 2016, Mordor Intelligence, $3,465
  Forecasts this market segment to grow at a 40.7% CAGR to 2020.

Healthcare service robotics (8)

• Prosthetic and therapeutic robotics, Dec 2015, Lux Research
  The prosthetic and therapeutic robotic devices sector will grow into a $1.9 billion and $1.7 billion market by 2025 respectively.
• Exoskeleton robots, Feb 2016, 49 pages, TechNavio, $2,500
  Forecasts the global exoskeleton robots market to grow at a CAGR of 50.85% during the period 2016-2020.
• Rehab robots, Jan 2016, TechNavio, 47 pages, $2,000
  Forecasts the global rehabilitation robots market to grow at a CAGR of 24.51% during the period 2016-2020.
• Hip and knee orthopedic surgical robots, Jan 2016, 145 pages, Wintergreen Research $4,100
  This market segment was only $84 million in 2015 but is forecast to reach $4.6 billion by 2022.
• Spine surgical robots, Feb 2016, 313 pages, Wintergreen Research, $4,100
  This market segment is forecast to reach $2.7 billion by 2022.
• Abdominal surgical robots, Dec 2015, 416 pages, Wintergreen Research, $3,900
  Worldwide market valued at $2.2 billion in 2012 and forecast to grow to more than $10 billion by 2021.
• Radiology oncology surgical robots, Jan 2016, 557 pages, Wintergreen Research $4,100
  This market segment is expected to reach $7.3 billion by 2022.
• Traditional and robotic laparoscopic devices, Jan 2016, 95 pages, TechNavio, $2,500
  Forecasts this market to grow at a CAGR of 8.2% through 2020.

Other service robots (5)

• Global robotic vacuum cleaner market, Feb 2016, 51 pages, TechNavio, $2,500
  Robotic vacuum cleaner market will grow at a CAGR of 15.3% and reach $3.31 billion by 2020.
• Robotic lawnmower market, Jan 2016, 175 pages, Beige Market Intelligence, $2,995
  Forecasts robotic lawnmower market to hit $2 billion by 2021.
• Global telepresence robot market, Mar 2016, 482 pages, Wintergreen Research, $4,100
  Telepresence robots at $825 million in 2015 are forecast to reach $7 billion by 2022.
• Global telepresence robot market, Jan 2016, 167 pages, BIS Research, $2,999
  Forecast to generate $137 million by 2022.
• Smart robots market, Mar 2016, Transparency Market Research, $4,315
  Analyzes key players including iRobot, Honda Motors, Adept Technology, Lely Group, Google, Amazon, Northrop Grumman, Bluefin Robotics, ABB and Yaskawa Electric.

Ancillary businesses (4)

• Global LiDAR market, Mar 2016, 145 pages, Markets and Markets, $5,650
  LiDAR and low-cost variants are expected to grow at a CAGR of 12.4% and reach $3.22 billion by 2022.
• 3D machine vision market, Nov 2015, 151 pages, Markets and Markets, $4,650
  This market segment is expected to hit $1.63 billion by 2020 growing at an estimated 10.5% CAGR.
• Robotic vision market, Mar 2016, 195 pages, Markets and Markets, $4,650
  This segment expected to grow at 10.8% from 2015 to 2020.
• Global UAV payload market, Dec 2015, 112 pages, Strategic Defense Intelligence, $4,800
  Radar, comms, sensors, cameras, gimbal devices all make up the “payload” market which was $2.1 bn in 2015 and is expected to reach $3.2 bn by 2025. Only 3.93% CAGR which reflects both fast growth and costs continuing to drop.

Finally (2)

The fact-based backbone for many of these research reports is the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) annual World Robotics Industrial and World Robotics Service reports. These two books represent the official tabulation from all the robot associations around the globe. The 2015 reports cover 2014 activity. The two 2015 reports can be purchased for $2,275. The IFR industrial robots report forecasts a 15% CAGR (compounded annual growth rate) for the next 4 years and, for the same period, the service robots report forecasts a 19% CAGR for professional and field service robots and 27% CAGR for household, consumer and personal service robots.

Reports covering 2015 will be published this summer.​

Frank Tobe is the owner and publisher of The Robot Report, and is also a panel member for Robohub's Robotics by Invitation series.

Frank Tobe is the owner and publisher of The Robot Report, and is also a panel member for Robohub's Robotics by Invitation series.