According to the data of the National Bureau of Statistics, in 2018, the output of industrial robots in China stepped out of the "high growth" which lasted for many years and rapidly turned into negative growth. This trend has continued until 2019, with the cumulative output of -11.70% in the first quarter and - 10.2% in the latest April data. Therefore, in order to solve the labor problem, accelerate the application of industrial robots in China and develop towards intelligent manufacturing, the output of industrial robots should maintain a high growth rate.


Monthly production data of industrial robots from January 2018 to April 2019:

Why is the growth rate of robot production declining?


Data show that the output of industrial robots in China increased by 21.7% in 2015, 72426 sets in 2016 and 34.3% in 2017, 13179 sets in 2017 and 68.1% in 2016. The trend of rapid growth.


Since China overtook Japan to become the world's largest industrial robot market in 2013, this position has remained so far. At the same time, under the strong "law of supply and demand", the output of industrial robots in China has increased sharply.


However, this trend is turning in 2018. In the first quarter of 2018, the output of industrial robots in China increased by 29.6%, decreased by 23.9% in the first half of the year, further dropped to 9.3% in the first three quarters and closed at 4.6% in the whole year, which is in sharp contrast with previous years. In 2018, the cumulative output of industrial robots in China was 147682 (sets), and the cumulative output of industrial robots increased by 4.6%. In February 2019, the cumulative output of industrial robots increased by - 11.0% for the first time.


Monthly, the turning point appeared in September, when the growth rate of industrial robots production suddenly dropped to - 16.4%, followed by negative monthly growth. Moreover, the downward trend continued until 2019, with -11.7% in the first quarter of this year.


By April 2019, a total of 45 258 industrial robots had been manufactured, with cumulative output growth of - 10.2%.


Although this phenomenon is affected by multiple factors, it eventually points to a reality, that is, the demand side has changed. Industry insiders believe that the fall in industrial robots production in 2018 is directly related to the current macroeconomic downward pressure and the decline in demand for robots by manufacturing enterprises.


In recent years, although the transformation and upgrading of a large number of manufacturing industries has stimulated the rise of industrial robot production capacity, many machine demand side still hold a conservative or wait-and-see attitude, only those with relatively good conditions can be conditioned to upgrade.


The sudden negative growth is also reflected in the financial performance of the entire domestic robotics industry in 2018. By reviewing the 2018 reports of several industrial robots listed companies, it is also found that the decline in revenue growth rate is almost universal. For example, the revenue growth of Eston in 2018 was 38.01%, which was 58.69% last year; the revenue growth of Xinshida in 2018 was 3.83%, which was 25.23% last year; the revenue growth of Tuosta in 2018 was 56.73%, which was 76.51% last year; and the CNC in Central China increased from 20.51%. 21.21% in 17 years fell to - 16.81% in 2018.