Robot as a service market

Robot as a service (RaaS) is a cloud computing unit that facilitates the seamless integration of robot and embedded devices into web and cloud computing environment. Robot as a service provides many benefits to both customers and the robotic companies. Robots as a Service allows company to have the benefits of robotic process automation (RPA) by leasing robotic devices and accessing a cloud-based subscription service. For instance, Honda, a Japan based automobile company introduced robot as a service (RaaS) platform in order to provide diverse range of robots and cloud-based data services to SMEs and large enterprises to support communication, robotic cooperation, and data sharing.

The global Robot as a Service market is expected to witness significant growth during the forecast period (2021–2028). The growing need to monitor, control, and manage several operations in the logistics, food and beverage defense, and household sectors along with the increasing labor cost is driving the market growth.  The difficulties in managing day-to-day tasks, workloads, and intensive operations are also increasing the demand for these service robots, owing to their high operational efficiency features. For instance, according to Coherent Market Insight analysis, the installed base for Robot-as-a-Service (RaaS) is expected to increase from 4,441 units in 2016 to 1.2 million by 2026. The robot as a service is gaining popularity due to increasing demand for human assistance tasks, to reduce work pressure, and to facilitate high efficiency in repetitive tasks in the industries. For instance, in January 2021, Hyundai Robotics, a Denmark-based company, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) Holdings that offers comprehensive robotics solutions, launched food & beverage service robots for the restaurant and catering sector. These robots are used in restaurants in order to increase the restaurant efficiency and reduce employee fatigue. Furthermore, government initiatives and several companies’ innovations are expected to enhance the usage of automated and robotics systems, which thus creates lucrative opportunities in the market.

Global Robot as a Service Market - Impact of Coronavirus (Covid-19) Pandemic

COVID-19 has significantly disrupted almost all the industries including infrastructure, transportation, oil and gas, manufacturing, and others. To combat COVID-19 pandemic, most of the countries implemented lockdown and are now easing it phase-wise and industry wise. This has significantly impacted manufacturing sector, as the facilities across the globe were temporarily shut down. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the demand for medical robots in the healthcare industry, which is driving the market growth. These robots are used in a variety of medical applications such as surgery, diagnostics, physical and mental rehabilitation, and prosthetics, among others. For instance, in May 2020, IPSoft (Amelia), a U.S.-based technology company, and GlobalDWS, a Canada based automation company, collaborated in order to develop disinfection service robots (DSR) that are equipped with high pressure atomizer to eliminate the harmful bacteria and viruses from the target areas. Furthermore, in April 2020, few Japanese companies have also developed medical robots that can be used to check temperature of people and conduct disinfection work in the hospital. Thus, all these factors increase the demand for robot-as-a service market.

North America is expected to dominant position in the global Robot as a Service market during the forecast period.

Statistics:

North America held dominant position in the global Robot as a Service market in 2020, accounting for 41.2% share in terms of value, followed by Asia Pacific and Europe.

Figure 1: Global Robot as a Service Market Share (%), By Region, 2020

North America is expected to account for the largest market share during the forecast period. The growing demand from healthcare sector for rehabilitation, increasing adoption of surgical robots in hospital, availability of technological advanced robots are the key factors increasing the demand for robot as a service market. Rapid increase in industrialization and development of production capacities in the North America region are likely to accelerate the growth of the service robotics market.

Asia Pacific region is expected to exhibit highest growth during the forecast period, owing to the increasing research & development activities across industrial sectors and rising government investments in automation, artificial intelligence, robotics, and many other technologies. The increasing demand for automation in these countries such as China, Japan, South Korea, and India are also propelling the market growth.

Logistics segment is expected to drive the market growth during the forecast period.

Among end use industry, the logistics segment is expected to hold dominant position in the global Robot as a Service market during the forecast period. This is attributed to the automation technology utilized in the process of moving and storing of goods. This sector is increasing the demand for service robots in order to streamline the supply chain across many industries. For instance, in December 2019, OOCL Logistics, a China-based logistics company launched AI-equipped electric vehicle (EVE) robots in Japanese smart warehouse. These type of robots facilitate the easy transport of goods from one place to another and assist in both put-away and picking processes in the industry.

Figure 2: Global Robot as a Service Market Value (US$ Bn) Analysis and Forecast and Y-o-Y Growth (%), 2017 - 2028

The global Robot as a Service market was valued at US$ 12.6 Bn in 2020 and is expected to reach US$ 41.3 Bn by 2028 at a CAGR of 15.9% between 2021 and 2028.

Major players operating in the global Robot as a Service market include iRobot, Softbank, Intuitive Surgical, DeLaval, Daifuku Co., Ltd., CYBERDYNE INC., DJI, KONGSBERG, Northrop Grumman, Neato Robotics, Inc., ecoRobotix Ltd, Starship Technologies, KUKA AG, Parrot, Aethon, Lely, Dematic, Bastian Solutions, LLC, and OMRON Corporation