Big but not strong! The industrial robot industry is showing signs of overheating

According to media reports, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is currently formulating industry entry conditions to raise entry barriers and strictly control the risks of low-end industrialization and overcapacity of low-end products in the high-end industrial robot industry.

The widespread use of robots has been a prominent feature of the transformation and upgrading of manufacturing enterprises in recent years. Statistics show that since becoming the world's largest industrial robot market in 2013, the usage of industrial robots in China has significantly increased. In 2014, the national sales of industrial robots exceeded 57000 units, an increase of 54%; In 2015, sales increased to 68000 units; In 2016, the number of robots installed reached 85000, exceeding 30% of the global number of newly added industrial robots.

Professional institutions predict that the sales of industrial robots in China will reach 102000 units in 2017, with a cumulative ownership of nearly 450000 units. The market share of local robot enterprises will increase from less than 5% in 2012 to over 30% in 2017; In 2020, the number of industrial robots in China will reach over 800000, with a potential market demand value of nearly 500 billion yuan.

In April of this year, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released the "Robot Industry Development Plan (2016-2020)" (hereinafter referred to as the "Plan"). According to the "Plan", the annual production target of industrial robots for domestic brands in China in 2020 is 100000 units. At present, industrial robots have widely served 37 major industries and 91 medium industries in the national economy. In 2016, the 3C (computer, communication equipment, and other electronic equipment) manufacturing and automotive manufacturing industries accounted for 30% and 12.6% of the total sales of domestic industrial robots, respectively.

The huge demand brought about by transformation and upgrading has led to signs of overheating in the industry. According to statistics, there are over 20 provinces in China that focus on developing the robot industry, and over 40 robot industry parks. In the past two years, the number of robot enterprises has rapidly increased from less than 400 to over 800, while the number of industry chain related enterprises has exceeded 3400. Among them, there are over 280 robot enterprises in Zhejiang alone. Zuo Shiquan, the director of the Equipment Institute of CCID Research Institute, admitted: "There is a certain degree of overheating in China's robotics industry, and the phenomenon of low-level repetitive construction and blind start-up does exist in some regions

Vice Minister of Industry and Information Technology, Xin Guobin, recently stated that the risk of low-end industrialization and overcapacity of low-end products in the robotics industry has attracted high attention from relevant departments.

Experts point out that in the Chinese industrial robot industry, foreign brands account for over 60% of the market share of Chinese industrial robots. For technically complex six axis or more multi joint robots, foreign companies have a market share of about 90%; Foreign robots account for 84% of the welding field, which is the most difficult and widely used internationally; In the automotive industry where high-end applications are concentrated, foreign companies account for 90% of the market share. In 2016, the sales of domestic industrial robots reached 22000 units, with a market share of 32.5%, breaking through 30% for the first time. In 2013, the market share of domestic brands in industrial robots was only 25%, with the remaining market share being held by foreign robot companies such as Fanuc, ABB, and Yaskawa Electric.