China’s industrial robot sales growth slows as domestic brands lose share and leading competitors diverge

Why did the automation market show no overall growth?

MIR estimates that China’s industrial automation market was flat year on year in the third quarter of 2026: the OEM market, which is dominated by discrete automation, grew 7%, offsetting a 3% decline in the project market. In the second quarter, the two markets grew 8% and fell 4%, respectively.
Domestic brands’ market shares in servo systems, low-voltage inverters, medium and large PLCs, and small PLCs fell by 7, 1, 3, and 7 percentage points quarter on quarter, respectively. Goldman Sachs believes demand from high-tech sectors such as semiconductors may benefit foreign brands more.

Industrial robot sales totaled 91 thousand units in the third quarter, up 13% year on year and down 10% quarter on quarter; in the second quarter, they rose 17% year on year and 15% quarter on quarter. Collaborative robots grew 38% year on year and remained the fastest-growing category, though growth was below the second quarter’s 43%.
High-tech sectors continued to drive sales, but growth rates diverged: sales to semiconductor and lithium battery customers rose 45% and 21% year on year, respectively, below the second quarter’s 65% and 31%; growth in the electronics industry rose from 21% to 26%. Automotive sales fell 5% year on year, turning negative for the first time since the fourth quarter of 2024.
Robot output under the National Bureau of Statistics’ measure rose 28% year on year and fell 4% quarter on quarter. Goldman Sachs noted that the gap between output and domestic sales narrowed from 112 thousand units in the second quarter to 108 thousand units, possibly supported by a 31% quarter-on-quarter rise in exports; this gap cannot be directly equated with changes in inventory.

Domestic brands’ overall share of industrial robot sales fell from 60% in the second quarter to 56% in the third. The decline was concentrated in small and large six-axis robots, where shares fell by 5 and 3 percentage points quarter on quarter to 54% and 33%, respectively; shares in SCARA and collaborative robots were broadly stable at 63% and 94%.
The overall rankings of leading manufacturers remained stable: Estun, KUKA, and Inovance ranked first through third, with third-quarter shares of 11%, 10%, and 9%, respectively, each up 1 percentage point year on year. A quarter-on-quarter decline in the industry’s overall domestic share can occur alongside year-on-year share gains by leading manufacturers.
Performance varied markedly by product: in small six-axis robots, Estun’s and Inovance’s third-quarter sales fell 24% and 27% quarter on quarter, respectively, but still rose 8% and 14% year on year. In SCARA, Inovance ranked first for the fifth consecutive quarter with a 27% share; Estun’s share rose to 14%, and its sales grew 91% year on year.

Inovance remained the market leader in servo systems and low-voltage inverters, but its servo share fell by 7 percentage points quarter on quarter to 31%, while overseas peers gained share over the same period.
In the PLC market for equipment control, Inovance’s rankings in medium and large products and in small products each fell one place, to fourth and third, respectively; their shares fell by 3 and 4 percentage points quarter on quarter to 4% and 11%, respectively.
These shares are based on MIR’s sales estimates and may differ from companies’ reported business revenue.