The International Federation of Robotics (IFR), which represents robot manufacturers and research institutes, said China last year surpassed Japan to become the world’s biggest market for industrial robots. Some 200,000 were operating in China at the end of 2014, the IFR said, with 32,000 installed in 2013 alone, accounting for 20% of worldwide installations that year.
The robot-to-worker ratio in the country is still relatively low, the IFR said, with 30 robots working in manufacturing plants per 10,000 employees. Japan’s ratio is 11 times higher.
Four multinational companies — Switzerland’s ABB Group ABBN, +0.64% , Japan’s Fanuc Corp. 6954, +2.78% FANUF, -2.14% and Yaskawa Electric Corp. 6506, -0.18% , and Germany’s Kuka Robotics KU2, +0.46% — are the dominant suppliers of robotic systems for factories in China. Mir Industry, a Chinese industrial consultancy, said the four account for about 58% of the nationwide market...MarketWatch
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