Humanoid Robot Market Set to Dwarf Auto Industry

The market for robotic companions could grow to 10 times the size of the global automotive industry within a few years, according to Zhaopeng Chen, founder and CEO of Munich-based startup Agile Robots.

Chen predicts that in the future, everyone could own a humanoid robot, just as families own cars today. The consulting firm Roland Berger estimates the long-term value of this market at $4tn. At the same time, autonomous AI-powered devices could help bring labor-intensive manufacturing back to Europe.

Agile Robots develops both humanoid and industrial robots. This year, the company expects to double its revenue from last year's €320m ($371m). The company has raised approximately $1.5bn from investors, including Japan's SoftBank and China's Xiaomi.

The sector is increasingly dominated by Chinese manufacturers, who are rapidly expanding production capacity with state support. Analysts at Bank of America estimate that of the approximately 20,000 humanoid robots shipped worldwide last year, as many as 95% came from China.

(Reuters, bak)