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Non-auto sectors are expanding industrial robot demand beyond automakers
Industrial automation suppliers reported top-line growth accelerating from 14% in Q1 to 24% in Q2 this year, signaling a broader, multi-industry robot cycle.
Industrial robotics demand is shifting away from a long-standing reliance on automakers, with non-auto sectors now taking a larger share of industrial robot adoption, according to ETF Trends. ETFL Trends cites remarks from Morten Paulsen, head of research and managing director at CLSA Japan, saying the automotive industry accounted for 70% to 80% of all industrial robot demand as recently as 15 years ago, while today even in North America automotive drives about 45% of robot demand. Paulsen said the change is being powered by new customer segments that were barely touched by automation a decade ago, rather than by automotive declines. He added that the non-automotive adoption trend built before the pandemic, with COVID acting as an accelerant that pushed industries to automate faster. Looking across regions and end markets, Paulsen pointed to China’s electronics industry overtaking automotive as the single largest driver of robot adoption. He also highlighted aerospace and defense strength, a pickup since March in oil and gas related industries, and an additional opportunity in warehouse and logistics, where he said about 80% of U.S. warehouses still use standard forklifts, a figure he expects to rise as labor shortages tighten. Paulsen linked further expansion to AI, which he said is speeding robot installation, programming, and factory integration, and enabling services like predictive maintenance and remote monitoring.