国内协作机器人（cobot）市场最近甚是热闹。多家企业先后发布了最新的协作机器人产品，而两家行业领先企业，节卡和越疆更是几乎同时宣布完成超3亿元融资的消息，一时间，协作机器人这一细分赛道，火热程度前所未有。

事实上，随着智能制造转型的加速和人口红利的消失，机器人的更多应用已是必然。凭借其灵活性和易用性，以及更低的价格，协作机器人在最近几年的发展更是迅速。根据市场研究公司Interact Analysis的最新报告，尽管全球协作机器人市场在2020年出现负增长，但后续发展预测乐观。具体情况怎样，请看以下译文。

China and the US Set to Drive Post-Covid Surge in Collaborative Robot Sales
中国和美国将推动疫后协作机器人销售激增

Leading market research company Interact Analysis has released a new report on the collaborative robot market. The report reviews what turned out to be a difficult 2019 and a tumultuous 2020 but gives reason for optimism for the sector from now up to 2028, with significant growth predicted.

领先的市场研究公司Interact Analysis发布了一份关于协作机器人市场的新报告。该报告回顾了2019年的艰难和2020年的动荡，但给出了从现在到2028年该行业乐观的理由，并预测会有显著增长。

As is the case with many industries, Covid-19 has severely affected the short and medium-term outlook for the collaborative robot sector. In 2020 the market saw negative growth for the first time -11.3% in revenue terms, and -5.7% in shipment terms. Factory and warehouse closures slowed down demand; and customers became more cautious about investment, leading to delays or even cancellations of orders. But Interact Analysis’s research indicates that there will be a V-shaped rebound for the industry which will result in growth of nearly 20% in 2021, surpassing 2019 market size.

与许多行业一样，新冠肺炎疫情严重影响了协作机器人领域的短期和中期前景。2020年，该市场首次出现负增长——销售额下降11.3%，出货量萎缩5.7%。工厂和仓库的关闭减缓了需求；客户对投资变得更加谨慎，导致订单延期甚至取消。但Interact Analysis的研究表明，该行业将出现V形反弹，2021年将增长近20%，市场规模超过2019年。

Thereafter up to 2028 there will be an annual growth rate of the order of 15-20%. The forecast has been lowered considerably compared to the equivalent 2019 report, the main reasons being, besides the Covid effect, competition from small articulated and SCARA robots in industrial settings, and the slower than expected increase in cobot installations in non-industrial applications but, in these turbulent times, the outlook looks good for the sector.

此后到2028年，年增长率将在15-20%左右。与2019年相同的报告相比，该预测大幅下调，主要原因是除疫情效应外，工业领域来自小型关节机器人和SCARA机器人的竞争，以及非工业应用中协作机器人安装的增长低于预期，但在当前动荡时期，该行业的前景看起来不错。

The impact of Covid-19 on the cobot market varies from region to region. The virus started in the Asian regions and then moved to Europe and North America. As a result, normal business operations and commissioning of automation projects in the Asia-Pacific region will resume earlier than in other regions. This is important for the cobot market, as over 50% of cobots were shipped to Asian countries in 2020. However, only the Chinese and, interestingly, the North American markets are forecast to surpass the size of 2019, mainly due to large domestic demand. China has seen high take-up of cobots because the country, as the world’s largest manufacturing base, is suffering from a labour shortage and is in strong need of higher levels of automation to improve production efficiency. By 2022 all regions are predicted to have exceeded the 2019 market-size, with Western Europe, along with China and North America seeing the fastest growth rates.

新冠肺炎对协作机器人市场的影响因地区而异。病毒从亚洲地区开始，然后转移到欧洲和北美。因此，亚太地区的正常业务运营和自动化项目调试将比其他地区更早恢复。这对于协作机器人市场非常重要，因为2020年有超过50％的协作机器人是销往亚洲国家。但有趣的是，只有中国市场和北美市场预计将超过2019年的规模，这主要是由于巨大的国内需求。作为全球最大的制造基地，中国劳动力短缺，迫切需要更高水平的自动化来提高生产效率，因此协作机器人在中国的使用率较高。预计到2022年，所有地区的市场规模都将超过2019年，其中西欧、中国和北美的增速最快。

Jan Zhang, senior director at Interact Analysis, told us: “Collaborative robots are still the new kid on the block. Their application potential hasn’t been fully exploited yet, by any means. At present, electronics is by far the biggest end-industry employing cobots, but their potential is now being recognized across a range of sectors. Their flexibility and ease of use makes them strong candidates for logistics, services and even education applications. Our research tells us that those non-manufacturing areas will account for 21.3% of collaborative robot revenues by 2024. Our little Cobot friends are certainly set to enjoy significant growth compared to other robot types.”

Interact Analysis高级总监Jan Zhang表示：“协作机器人仍然是新兴产品。无论如何，它们的应用潜力还没有得到充分开发。目前，电子产品是使用协作机器人的最大终端行业，但现在它们的潜力已在各个领域得到认可。它们的灵活性和易用性使其成为物流、服务甚至教育应用的理想之选。我们的研究告诉我们，到2024年，非制造领域将占协作机器人收入的21.3％。与其他类型机器人相比，协作机器人肯定会获得显著增长。”