Robot sales jumped in second quarter, A3 statistics show

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.