Following uneven growth in the late 1990s, new robot orders reported by North American robotics companies hit the heights in 1999, when orders jumped to 16,237 units, according to figures supplied by the Robotic Industries Association (RIA), an Ann Arbor, Mich.-based trade group.
Orders slowed a bit in 2000 to a still respectable 14,327 units, but then fell into a two-year depression beginning in 2001 that had robot makers crying the blues. Now there are signs that the worst may be over. Robot orders of 10,382 units during the first three quarters of 2003 alone nearly equaled the full-year totals of 2001 and 2002.
See the story that goes with this sidebar: Robots Gain Ground
