Over 4 million mobile robots will be installed by the end of 2027

The research finds that the manufacturing industry is expected to continue to drive growth, as the market rebounds from the effects of Covid and a slow start to 2020. Despite a slow 1H 2020 for many vendors, shipments picked up during the final quarter of the year, with revenues filtering through to Q1 2021. The data shows more than 70% growth in shipments recorded in 2021, topping 100,000 for the year.

Although overall forecasts to 2027 have been lowered slightly, the market outlook remains strong, with CAGR of between 30% and 40% predicted. By 2027, the installed base of mobile robots is expected to reach more than 4 million, the majority of which will be order fulfilment units. 

Both AMRs (Autonomous mobile robot) and AGVs (automated guided vehicles) will experience strong demand in the next five years but growth of AMR adoption will dwarf that of AGVs due to the greater range of possible applications. Logistics will continue to be the primary market for mobile robots, but significant growth is also anticipated in the manufacturing industry as new applications present themselves as the market develops.

Looking at the trends in individual regions, shelf to person robots dominate in China and other APAC regions, while the Americas and EMEA are expected to see a strong uptake in order fulfilment bots. However, revenue growth in APAC regions will be slower out to 2027 due to the lower average selling price (ASP) of the technology in this region. The Americas and EMEA regions look set to enjoy substantial revenue growth in the next 5 years, with the market reaching almost $6B in 2027 for the US, while the figure sits at just over $2B for the rest of APAC and $5B for EMEA. Despite this, China alone will account of around 40% of mobile robot shipments in the next five years due to an increasing trend towards lower cost robots.