Date: 19/12/2016

The robot market prediction by IDC for 2017 and further

With the artificial intelligence tools such as speech recognition and video analytics giving a huge boost to the growth of robot market, the robots are getting smarter and more capable. With the volumes going up the cast also expected to fall.

"Technological development in artificial intelligence, computer vision, navigation, MEMS sensor, and semiconductor technologies continue to drive innovation in the capability, performance, autonomy, ease of use, and cost-effectiveness of industrial and service robots," says Dr. Jing Bing Zhang, Research Director, Worldwide Robotics and Asia Pacific Manufacturing Insights, IDC Asia/Pacific.

To market researcher IDC has forecasted/predicted the below-market future trends in the robot market:

1. IDC predicts 35% of leading organizations in logistics, health, utilities, and resources will explore the use of robots to automate operations by 2019

Below are the top 10 predictions by IDC:

Prediction 1: Robot as a Service. By 2019, 30% of commercial service robotic applications will be in the form of a "Robot as a Service" business model, reducing costs for robot deployment.

Prediction 2: Chief Robotics Officer. By 2019, 30% of leading organizations will implement a chief robotics officer role and/or define a robotics-specific function within the business.

Prediction 3: Evolving Competitive Landscape. By 2020, companies will have a greater choice of vendors as new players enter the US$80-billion ICT market to support robotics deployment.

Prediction 4: Robotics Talent Crunch. By 2020, robotics growth will accelerate the talent race, leaving 35% of robotics-related jobs vacant while the average salary increases by at least 60%.

Prediction 5: Robotics Will Face Regulation. By 2019, the Government will begin implementing robotics-specific regulations to preserve jobs and to address concerns of security, safety, and privacy.

Prediction 6: Software Defined Robot. By 2020, 60% of robots will depend on cloud-based software to define new skills, cognitive capabilities, and application programs, leading to the formation of a robotics cloud marketplace.

Prediction 7: Collaborative Robot. By 2018, 30% of all new robotic deployments will be smart collaborative robots that operate three times faster than today's robots and are safe for work around humans.

Prediction 8: Intelligent RoboNet. By 2020, 40% of commercial robots will become connected to a mesh of shared intelligence, resulting in 200% improvement in overall robotic operational efficiency.

Prediction 9: Growth Outside Factory. By 2019, 35% of leading organizations in logistics, health, utilities, and resources will explore the use of robots to automate operations.

Prediction 10: Robotics for Ecommerce. By 2018, 45% of the 200 leading global ecommerce and omni-channel commerce companies will deploy robotics systems in their order fulfilment warehousing and delivery operations.

"Robotics will continue to accelerate innovation, thus disrupting and changing the paradigm of business operations in many industries. IDC expects to see stronger growth of robotics adoption outside the traditional manufacturing factory floor, including logistics, health, utilities and resources industries. We encourage end-user companies to embrace and assess how robotics can sharpen their company's competitive edge by improving quality, increasing operational productivity and agility, and enhancing experiences of all stakeholders," ends Zhang.