China produced 29.1% more industrial robots in the first three quarters of 2026 than a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Oct. 19, extending a run that has made the country the world’s largest automation market.
The International Federation of Robotics forecasts global installations will rise 9% this year to 655,000 units and reach 806,000 by 2029, with China accounting for roughly 60% of that demand. Monthly output hit a record 100,000 units in May.
The bigger story is market share. After decades dominated by FANUC, ABB, KUKA, and Yaskawa, Chinese vendors have broken into the top tier of their home market, according to SPD Bank International:
- • Estun Automation holds about 10%, ranking No. 1 across all brands;
- • Inovance Technology is close behind at ~10%, and leads the SCARA segment with 27%;
- • FANUC has slipped to roughly 9%, while KUKA retains ~10%.
Estun became the first domestic brand to ship more than 10,000 industrial robots in a single quarter in H1 2026, according to MIR DATABANK, extending its domestic leadership to six straight quarters and eight straight years. It listed in Hong Kong in March (02715.HK), becoming the sector’s first “A+H” dual-listed company.
The trend was on display at the 26th China International Industry Fair in Shanghai (Oct. 12–16), where booths built by Estun, Inovance, and other local players matched or exceeded those of the “big four.” Domestic vendors now lead in fast-growing segments such as semiconductor wafer handling, lithium-battery and PV assembly, and flexible 3C electronics, while foreign brands still anchor automotive welding and painting lines.
Buyers are no longer won over by demo stunts, exhibitors say. Their questions center on uptime, integration cost, and payback — a sign that Chinese robots are now competing on engineering performance rather than price.
Shanghai aims to lift robot density to 600 units per 10,000 manufacturing workers by 2028. Analysts say the next leg of growth will come from AI-enabled, machine-vision-guided robots penetrating smaller factories that previously could not afford automation.
Post time: Oct-19-2026
