my country's robot market is huge, and the "four major families" are accelerating their domestic layout

As labor costs rise, my country's demographic dividend gradually disappears, and "machine replacement" in the manufacturing industry gradually becomes the mainstream. my country will form a huge industrial robot market. Faced with this large domestic blue ocean, the world's four robot giants - Kuka, FANUC, Yaskawa and ABB have taken action to accelerate their in-depth layout in the Chinese market.

As the demographic dividend gradually disappears, my country has become the world's largest industrial robot market. According to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, by 2020, my country will form a relatively complete industrial robot industry system, with a high-end market share of more than 45%. At present, the use of industrial robots in China is mainly concentrated in the automotive industry and the electronic and electrical industry, and arc welding robots, spot welding robots, handling robots, etc. are widely used in production.

Since 2016, machine replacement has become an urgent need for corporate development. In addition, as the price of industrial robots continues to decline, the effect of machine replacement is very obvious. The huge potential of my country's industrial robot market has attracted the attention of the world's "four major families" of robots - Kuka, FANUC, Yaskawa and ABB, and several companies have successively accelerated their layout in the Chinese market.

On April 24, Yaskawa Electric and Changying Precision officially signed a contract in Songshan Lake, Dongguan to establish a joint venture company, Guangdong Tianji Robot Co., Ltd. As one of the four major robot companies recognized by the world, Yaskawa Electric and Changying Precision will join forces to give full play to the advantages of both parties in technology, market and other fields, and strive to develop a cutting-edge generation of small six-axis industrial robots to improve the quality and core technology of Chinese local robot products.

After the establishment of the joint venture, Tianji Robot plans to produce 500 small six-axis robots in 2017, 2,000 in 2018, and achieve an annual output of 10,000 by 2021.

As one of the four major robot brand companies in the world, Yaskawa has mastered the core technologies of robots such as servo motors and motion control systems, and its pedigree is very pure. The cost-effectiveness of Yaskawa robots has always been in the leading position in the world. From Yaskawa's perspective, choosing Changying Precision as a partner for the development of small six-axis robots is more valued for Changying Precision's accumulation in the 3C industry and the huge market it can pry open.

After the establishment of the joint venture between Yaskawa and Changying Precision, Tianji Robotics plans to produce 500 small six-axis robots in 2017, 2,000 in 2018, and 10,000 units per year by 2021.

As for ABB, according to Japanese media reports, ABB of Switzerland, one of the world's top four industrial robots, will open a large-scale sales and service base called "Application Center" in Chongqing, inland China in 2017. In inland China, investment opportunities to promote economic development are increasing, and ABB hopes to seize the demand for automation.

Currently, ABB is advancing preparations for the opening of the Application Center. It is expected that the area of the center will reach several thousand square meters. The investment amount has not been announced. The center will actually set up industrial robots, sales staff and technical support engineers.

ABB has the same base in Qingdao and Zhuhai on the coast of China. The application center in Zhuhai plans to be relocated and expanded in 2017. Li Gang, head of ABB's Chinese robotics business, said that three bases are not enough in China. Centers will also need to be opened in the north and other regions in the future.

Another company that has also set its sights on Chongqing is FANUC, one of the "Four Families". It is understood that FANUC had already started to build a technology center in Chongqing, China as early as 2016. At that time, FANUC CEO Yoshiharu Inaba said that FANUC was hoping to use the Chongqing Technology Center to cultivate talents such as robot engineers or system engineers to contribute to the development of Chongqing.

"We are ready to cooperate with Chongqing's automobile factories to promote intelligent applications and bring cutting-edge robot technology to Chongqing," said Yoshiharu Inaba. In recent years, capital investment in inland areas where economic development lags behind coastal areas has made progress. FANUC is also discussing setting up a technology center in Chongqing as a sales and service base in 2018.

KUKA, one of the "Four Families", already has Chinese ancestry. It was officially acquired by China's Midea Group this year and became an important part of Midea's industrial ecology. Given Midea Group's huge market base in China, perfect sales channels, and good consumer stickiness, KUKA is expected to become one of the "Four Families" that has achieved outstanding results in the Chinese robot market.

The great attention paid by the "Four Major Families" of global robots to the Chinese market proves that the peak of the development of the Chinese robot market is far from coming, and the market potential is still huge. While strengthening cooperation with the "Four Major Families", domestic robot companies should also focus on the future, start from quality, and build their own core competitiveness. Only in this way can they help companies achieve sustainable development, drive the intelligent transformation of the industry, and realize Chinese creation.