New research by Interact Analysis shows the market for mobile robot components is expected to enjoy rapid growth out to 2027, reaching a value of $7.4bn with a CAGR of 44.8 percent over the next 5 years. Regionally, the United States currently dominates the market, but China will become a strong rival and is expected to overtake the United States in terms of unit sales by 2025, while the U.S. will continue to lead in terms of revenue. 

The exponential growth that the market for mobile robots will enjoy is primarily due to demand for order fulfilment robots. Shelf-to-Person (S2P) robots currently dominate revenues due to Amazon’s strong influence on the market. Going forward, the dominance of S2P will continue as other logistics firms, such as Alibaba, mimic Amazon’s strategy. Looking at the market by component type, most types will experience high growth over the forecast period. In particular, that of drivetrain components, which are experiencing an additional boost in revenues due to the impact of supply chain constraints. By 2027, the market for drivetrain components will reach $4.5bn, partly due to the rapid adoption of mobile robots and partly because of the increase in average selling prices. LiDAR sensors will also dominate the market as navigation sensors become an industry norm.

While China will become a strong growth contender for mobile robot componentry, the US currently dominates the market because of a huge captive market created by the in-house production of Amazon’s AMR/AGV fleet. By 2027, China will account for over 40 percent of the components market in terms of units, but the US will still dominate revenues. The shift towards Chinese robots and components is a driving factor in global price erosion for the market, particularly for navigation systems. The components market for the rest of APAC is not as large as Interact Analysis initially thought, as the majority of mobile robots used in manufacturing and logistics facilities are sourced from China. 

Brianna Jackson, research analyst at Interact Analysis, comments, “The growth that we expect to see for navigation componentry is overwhelming. Revenues for this area of the market currently sit at $253m and this will grow at a CAGR of 33.1 percent to over $1.4bn by 2027. Much of this revenue growth will be generated by sales of LiDAR sensors due to their higher unit cost compared with other types. In 2021, LiDAR sensors accounted for 65 percent of revenues for the navigation component market.”

www.interactanalysis.com