Airtac’s October sales, denominated in renminbi, fell 8% month on month, while daily average sales adjusted for holidays rose 7%. Nomura said the rebound was broadly in line with seasonal patterns but weaker than in the same period of 2025.
Order growth slowed at most tracked domestic manufacturers compared with the first nine months of 2026, while foreign brands' sales growth in China for servo systems and low-voltage inverters remained broadly stable. Morgan Stanley believes AI-related downstream demand continues to provide support and that the capital expenditure cycle is broadening.
Growth in Japanese machine tool orders from China slowed in September, while North American orders continued to accelerate; industrial robot exports and automation component production data show that the overseas recovery is not strengthening in every segment at the same pace.
J.P. Morgan sees machine-tool and semiconductor investment supporting automation in Taiwan, but has cut its earnings forecasts for Chinese automakers; company results also show that revenue growth and improvements in profit quality do not always move in step.
