Thanks to the support of relevant policies and the wide application of innovative products such as collaborative robots, in the first quarter of 2023, China’s industrial robots sold about 75,000 units, an increase of about 11.7%. However, on the supply side, under the backlog of orders in the second half of 2022 and the trend of destocking, the output of China’s industrial robots in the first quarter did not meet expectations. Data from the National Bureau of Statistics show that in the first quarter of 2023, China’s industrial robot production was about 103,000 units, an increase of only 1.17% year-on-year, and a decline of about 15.36% quarter-on-quarter.

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The head of the enterprise is not connected

Despite the significant increase in overall sales, from the performance statistics of 12 listed companies in the field of industrial robot, such as Eston, Huichuan Technology (industrial robot business), Efte, Xinshida, ST Industrial Intelligence, Robotics, Jushi Technology, Huazhong Numerical Control, Sanfeng Intelligence, Ashta, Kelda, and Midea Group (robot and automation system business), Can be said to be a few happy several sorrow, the first quarter performance appeared polarization.

Among them, there are 10 enterprises with positive growth in operating income in the first quarter, which are Eston, Huichuan Technology, Efte, Xinshida, ST Industrial Intelligence, Robot, Central Numerical Control, Sanfeng Intelligence, Kelda, and Midea Group; The net profit of the mother showed positive growth of only 5 enterprises, respectively, Huichuan Technology, New time, ST industrial intelligence, Sanfeng intelligence, the United States Group. Eston and Evert, etc., have increased income but not increased profit.

VMIPMC-5565

VMIPMC-5565

Eston and Efte and other domestic robot ontology enterprises have increased their income without increasing profits. The reason is that the two companies mentioned in the investor research the impact of the sharp rise in the price of electronic components brought about by the chip shortage on the gross profit margin of robot machines. In addition, Eston’s industrial robot product line is dominated by six-axis robots, which has a large market share in 3C electronics, new energy and other fields. From the perspective of the shipment of industrial robots in the downstream industry in the first quarter, the photovoltaic market maintained a high growth rate, and the market demand of the electronics industry showed negative growth. Therefore, the pressure of the 3C electronic market may be related to the decline in Eston’s net profit.

According to the financial report data, the industrial robot sales of Huichuan Technology, which has the highest revenue in the first quarter of 2023, are dominated by SCARA, which ranks second in the domestic market share. In the investor relations activity record released by Huichuan Technology, it is also expected that opportunities in photovoltaic, wind power and other fields will become one of the main sources of growth for the company in the last three quarters. At the same time, Eston said at the recent results meeting that from the order situation in the first quarter, the demand for the photovoltaic industry is still strong, and many industries maintain stable growth. The relevant person in charge of Eft also said that in the first quarter, Eft’s order growth mainly came from the photovoltaic industry.

Industry experts believe that the development of emerging industries such as lithium and photovoltaic in the future will bring considerable increments to the robot market. At present, China’s industrial robot industry can be said to have entered a new period, the stage of the outbreak of market increment has passed, into the new cycle of the stock market competition and subdivision of the incremental market card, the demand side has become the main contradiction of the industrial chain, “where the demand comes from” has become the primary issue for enterprises to consider.