International Federation of RoboticsService robots - sales value increases by 39
The robotics association IFR has published figures on service robotics: in 2017, sales of service robots for professional use rose by 39% to USD 6.6 billion. The total number of units sold grew by 85%. Logistics robots are in particularly high demand.
Sales of field robots, which primarily comprise milking robots, account for around 15% of the total sales value of professional service robots. Their share fell slightly by 2% to USD 966 million. The total number of field robots sold in 2017 amounted to around 6,400 units, which corresponds to a 6% share of the total number of units. A total of around 5,400 milking robots were sold in 2017 (2016: 5,300 units). In 2016, sales declined due to a financially tense situation among dairy farmers. The consequences of these effects were still visible in 2017. Agricultural robots (arable farming for plant, vegetable and fruit harvesting) became increasingly established on the market in 2017, with sales rising from 190 units (2016) to 520 units (2017).