North American robot sales decline 8% in first half of 2024

By Steve Crowe | September 5, 2024

Significant declines in the automotive component and semiconductors industries led to another drop in North American robot sales, according to the Association for Advancing Automation (A3). In the second quarter of 2024, 7,123 robots were ordered in North America, which A3 said is a decline of 9.7% compared with Q2 2023.

The total units sold were valued at $489 million, which A3 said is a 6.9% increase compared with the same timeframe last year.

The new report from A3 said 15,705 robots valued at $983 million were ordered by North American companies during the first half of 2024. This marked a 7.9% decline in units and a 6.8% drop in revenue year over year.

A3 previously said robot sales in North America were down 6% in the first quarter of 2024 compared with the same period in 2023. Companies purchased 8,582 robots from January through March for $494 million, A3 said.

In 2023, North American robot orders declined by 30% after two years of record sales.

The industry association said the Q2 performance can be attributed to broader economic and manufacturing sector dynamics. The rise in revenue despite a drop in units ordered suggests a trend toward investing in advanced, higher-value robots.

“This shift may be driven by the need for more sophisticated automation to address labor shortages and increase production efficiency amid economic uncertainties,” stated A3.

Manufacturing slowdown hits robot sales

It’s important to note A3 only collects sales data on traditional industrial robots. It doesn’t collect data about autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) or collaborative robotic arms. The totals are based on numbers submitted by participants and include sales by North American robot suppliers to companies in North America only.

A major reason for the continued decline in unit sales is the slowdown in sectors that are historically strong for robotics, including automotive components and semiconductors, which declined 39% and 40%, respectively. Non-automotive industries continued to turn to robotics as food and consumer goods and life sciences and pharmaceutical sectors grew 86% and 48%, respectively.

“After the first quarter, members we spoke with were generally optimistic about the rest of the year,” said Alex Shikany, vice president of membership and market intelligence at A3. “While it appears there were still headwinds the industry was experiencing in the second quarter, we continue to hear from companies [that] are optimistic about the second half of the year relative to the first half.”

A3 entered 2024 optimistic that robot sales would rebound after a tough 2023. The industry had back-to-back record sales years in 2021 and 2022, which was the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. But unit sales haven’t bounced back as expected.

Here is a quick look at how a few other robotics applications performed in Q2 2024, according to A3:

• Handling operations/machine tending: Orders grew by 4%, while shipments declined by 2%.
• Welding and soldering: Orders and shipments declined significantly by 31% and 15%, respectively.
• Processing: Experienced growth of 1,233% (over a small order volume in 2023).
• Assembling and disassembling: Orders and shipments fell by 28% and 13%, respectively.

Learn about the global robotics industry at RoboBusiness

The decline in North American robotics sales is magnified even further when compared with China, the world’s leading robotics market. This week, China laid out a plan for how it’ll use robotics as an engine for major economic growth.

“China’s rapid development in industrial robot automation is extraordinary,” said the International Federation of Robotics (IFR).

The state of the global robotics industry will be a major topic of discussion at RoboBusiness, which is produced by The Robot Report. The event, which takes place Oct. 16 to 17 in Santa Clara, Calif., will focus heavily on driving robotics innovation.

RoboBusiness will feature more than 70 experts on stage sharing best practices for commercial robotics development. There will be over 70 exhibitors on the showfloor, a Women in Robotics Luncheon, a robotics startup competition, a startup bootcamp, 10+ hours of dedicated networking, and much more.

Register now.