Roboterverkäufe signalisieren Aufschwung?

verfasst von EM-financial, 21.10.2003, 21:10

-->Jetzt wissen wir endlich, was unter Jobless recovery wirklich gemeint ist. TAZ lässt grüßen ;-) (Quelle: Bangkokpost)

Japan still the most robotised economy

Jonathan Fowler

Increased sales of industrial robots in North America and Europe have revived the global market for the machines, a UN report said.

The annual World Robotics Survey, released yesterday, said a 26% rise in business orders coincides with an increase in the number of robots used around the home, mostly to mow lawns and vacuum floors.

The 380-page report, issued by the UN Economic Commission for Europe and the International Federation of Robotics, said 80,000 robots were sold between January and June. Orders for new factory robots rose 35% in North America and 25% in Europe _ in both cases mostly for use in the auto industry _ compensating for the continued decline in Japan.

``These figures indicate that a strong recovery is in sight,'' said the study. Amid economic gloom, the global robot market shrunk last year by 12%.

The total number of robots in use worldwide stands at around 1.4 million, the study said.

Japan remains the world's most robotised economy, home to about half the 770,000 robots working in factories around the world, the study said. But, with the Japanese economy continuing in the doldrums, the number of robots has dropped steadily from a peak of 413,000 in 1997, as companies choose not to replace some aging machines. Last year, the figure was around 350,000.

``The market is falling in Japan,'' the report's author, Jan Karlsson, told the Associated Press.

``There was a tendency at the end of the 1980s and early 1990s to robotise everything that was possible to robotise, and they went too fast.''

But investment is likely to rise in Japan over the next decade, he said, because the country's falling birth rate means fewer workers will enter the labour force and robots will increasingly be needed to fill the gap. Similar population pressures are likely to increase investment in other rich countries.

While industrial robots continue to dominate, household use of the smart machines is taking off.

In 2002, sales of ``domestic robots'' _ mostly self-piloting lawnmowers and window-cleaners _ rose to 33,000. In 2001, the figure was 20,000.

The study predicted booming sales over the next three years. ``The market potential is very large,'' it said.

Some 400,000 vacuum-cleaning robots will likely be in service by 2006, and 125,000 smart lawnmowers.

Prices for smart vacuum cleaners currently range from $200 for the Roomba made by US firm iRobotics to $1,700 for the Trilobite from Sweden's Electrolux, which is not currently available in the United States.

Sales of robot toys _ like Sony's canine AIBO _ also are rising, the study said. There are now some 550,000 ``entertainment robots'' around the world and the figure is expected to reach 1.5 million by 2006.

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gesamter Thread:

• Roboterverkäufe signalisieren Aufschwung? - EM-financial, 21.10.2003, 21:10
  • Nein, es bestätigt, daß WELTWEIT (China u.a.) Arbeitsplätze rasant verlorengehen (owT) - RK, 21.10.2003, 22:33
    • Re: Nein, es bestätigt, daß (China u.a.) Arbeitsplätze - denk ich nicht - Baldur der Ketzer, 21.10.2003, 22:58
      • NEIN, das hatten wir erst vor ein paar Tagen hier: China verliert massiv Jobs! - RK, 21.10.2003, 23:05
        • darum geht es ja bei den Robotern - EM-financial, 21.10.2003, 23:22
          • Und wovon leben immer weitere Millionen Arbeitslose ohne jegliches Einkommen??? - RK, 21.10.2003, 23:51
            • Re: Und wovon leben immer weitere Millionen Arbeitslose ohne jegliches Einkommen??? - EM-financial, 22.10.2003, 11:23
      • Zustimmung, Baldur! - silvereagle, 22.10.2003, 14:40