North American robotic orders peaked in 2022, when the corporate skilled a number of file quarters in a row.
Robotic orders in North America remained primarily flat within the first quarter of 2025, in response to the Affiliation for Advancing Automation (A3). The group discovered that corporations bought 9,064 models valued at $580.7 million in Q1 of 2025.
In comparison with Q1 2024, this represents a 0.4% improve in models ordered and a 15% rise so as worth, signaling continued demand and elevated funding in higher-value automation methods.
2024 was a slower yr for the North American robotics {industry}, with a powerful ending. Total, North American corporations ordered 31,311 robots valued at $1.963 billion, representing slight will increase of 0.5% in models and 0.1% in income over 2023.
Whereas the automotive {industry} has traditionally been the biggest adopter of robotics, meals and client items emerged as 2024’s fastest-growing sector, with robotic orders surging 65%. This pattern, nevertheless, appears to be altering, with automotive gross sales driving progress at first of 2025.
“The primary quarter information highlights a continued resilience in automation funding, significantly within the automotive sector, at the same time as producers navigate a posh macroeconomic atmosphere,” stated Alex Shikany, govt vp at A3. “On the identical time, some sectors are taking a extra cautious method as broader financial uncertainty persists.”
Demand from automotive authentic tools producers (OEMs) was the first progress driver, with 3,668 models ordered valued at $263 million—a 42% improve in models and a 78% improve in income over Q1 2024.
The income progress displays not solely greater quantity, but in addition a shift within the forms of purposes being automated this quarter, with a better share of orders tied to higher-value methods, A3 stated. In distinction, orders from automotive part suppliers declined 29% in models and 12% in worth year-over-year, totaling 1,407 models and $88 million.
Most non-automotive sectors skilled contraction relative to Q1 2024, aside from plastics and rubber, which noticed 12% progress in models ordered and a 33% improve so as worth. Sectors corresponding to meals and client items, metals, and semiconductors skilled year-over-year declines.
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A3 shares its first collaborative robotic numbers
A3 has begun reporting collaborative robotic (cobot) statistics as a part of its official quarterly information, making it the primary industry-wide dataset of its type in North America.
“We’re proud to launch this new degree of reporting,” stated Shikany. “Cobots are one of many fastest-growing areas of robotics adoption, and offering clear, dependable information on the place they’re getting used will assist producers, integrators, and suppliers make extra knowledgeable choices.”
In Q1 2025, North American corporations ordered 1,052 collaborative robots valued at $39.2 million. Cobots accounted for 11.6% of all robots ordered and 6.8% of complete income this quarter. A3 discovered that cobot demand was strongest in industries prioritizing flexibility and protected human-machine collaboration:
- Life Sciences/Pharma/Biomed: 127 models ($7.1M)
- Meals & Shopper Items: 114 models ($4.5M)
- All Different Industries: 419 models ($13.5M)
In every of those segments, collaborative robots made up over 20% of complete demand. Common Robots, a number one cobot supplier, launched its UR15 at present. The UR15 has a most TCP velocity of 5 m/s to cut back cycle instances, improve productiveness, and cut back prices throughout purposes and industries.
