The April-through-June quarter was the robotics industry’s best quarter ever, with 5,396 robots valued at $336 million ordered by North American manufacturing companies. “We’ve been tracking the industry on a quarterly basis since 1983, and can report that there were more robots ordered in the second quarter of 2005 than in any previous quarter,” said Donald A. Vincent, RIA executive vice president.
The second-quarter surge followed a strong first-
quarter performance, producing a 33 percent jump in robot orders during this year’s first half, RIA figures show. A total of 10,712 robots valued at $638.9 million were ordered by North American companies from January through June. When orders from companies outside North America are included, overall sales for North American robot suppliers totaled 11,381 robots valued at $673.1 million in the first half of 2005. First-half shipments, meanwhile, jumped by 37 percent in units to 9,281, and by 24 percent in dollars to $587.9 million.
