On November 7, iResearch released the “2023 China Industrial Robot Industry Research Report”. The report pointed out that the future development of industrial robots to improve the breadth and depth of application as the direction, in which motion control technology, control system technology to promote product performance improvement, AI related technology to promote intelligent improvement, the future of industrial robots to intelligent, refined, flexible, platform and other directions. From the perspective of market investment hot spots, ontology, other (visual positioning, tracking, detection, lidar and other business enterprises), the whole industry chain is the main investment direction. The servo + control in the parts is hot, and the collaborative robot in the body is hot.

In terms of macro environment, in terms of policy, policy intensity has been strengthened, and the direction has changed from “introduction + special breakthrough” to “localization and intelligence”; The goal is to double the density of manufacturing robots by 2025 compared with 2020. In terms of technology, the development of machine vision, sensors and other related technologies and their deep integration with industrial robots promote the availability and ease of use of industrial robots.

In terms of demand, the potential labor force is insufficient, and the “machine substitutes for people” has become the general trend; At present, domestic industrial robots mainly rely on imports, and its density has room for improvement compared with developed countries, and domestic industrial robots have great space potential. At the same time, new energy and other industries provide certain first-mover advantages for the development and penetration of domestic industrial robot enterprises under the wave of localization.

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Regarding the industrial robot industry chain situation, upstream parts, Erui Consulting pointed out that the reducer market concentration is extremely high, the high-end market is the absolute monopoly of foreign brands, so the manufacturer has strong bargaining power, accounting for about 25%-30% of the robot cost. The overall supply cycle is long, generally 4-6 months in China. The servo high-end market depends on imports, and the low-end market can be covered independently. In domestic manufacturers, servo accounts for about 25%-30% of robot costs. The controller body manufacturers have independently developed, but most of them still need to buy third-party products. The controller accounts for about 20%-25% of the robot’s cost.

In the middle stream, the number of industrial robots in China in 2022 is 1.357 million units, mainly multi-joint robots and SCARA robots, which account for about 60% and 40% respectively. The market pattern is relatively concentrated, and the overall proportion of foreign brands is high, about 70%. Domestic manufacturers mainly control the cost structure through self-research of parts, develop collaborative robots to increase product application scenarios, expand new industries such as furniture, and actively layout the sea.

In terms of downstream system integrators, the market pattern is relatively dispersed (a large number of enterprises, small scale), of which domestic system integrators account for more than 90%. Emerging integrated ecological partners such as machine vision and 3D cameras help the “eye/brain” development of industrial robots to unlock more and more precise application scenarios. Traditional system integrators are moving forward to comprehensive solution manufacturers, that is, expanding ontology capabilities upward, and expanding peripheral technologies such as machine vision and flexible grippers downward.

Iresearch said that from the perspective of industry development potential, automotive manufacturing, electronics and semiconductor manufacturing are still the main application industries, and lithium/photovoltaic manufacturing is the main industry in the new market. In addition, the application potential of manufacturing industries such as aerospace and home appliance manufacturing is also relatively large.