Shipments of collaborative robots (cobots) are projected to grow at an average annual rate of 17.3 per cent from 2025 to 2030. Interact Analysis forecasts shipments will almost double over this period to 128,918 units. Following a strong 2025, cobot shipments rose 14.5 per cent to approximately 57,000 units, while market revenue increased 10.5 per cent, from around $1.1 billion to over $1.2 billion.

Growth in 2025 was primarily driven by large-scale equipment upgrades in electronics manufacturing, cyclical recoveries in semiconductors, and rising automation adoption in logistics and warehousing. Falling barriers to entry, improved safety, ease of use, and cost reductions also supported the uptake.

Between 2025 and 2030, revenue is expected to expand at an average annual rate of 13.6 per cent, reaching more than $2.3 billion. The gap between shipment and revenue growth signals a gradual decline in average selling prices, which is expected to be slower than in previous years due to stabilising price competition in China and rising manufacturing costs in Europe and the US.

China continues to dominate the collaborative robot market. Its shipment share rose from 28.9 per cent in 2018 to 54.7 per cent in 2025 and is projected to reach 61.4 per cent by 2030. In contrast, the Americas’ share is expected to fall from 15.9 per cent to 13.7 per cent, while EMEA is forecast to drop from 18.1 per cent to 13.5 per cent, narrowly behind the Americas.

China’s revenue share is predicted to increase from 35 per cent in 2025 to 42.4 per cent in 2030, representing an average annual growth rate of 17.8 per cent, compared with 11 per cent for the rest of the world. This growth reflects China’s volume advantage and lower average unit costs. Prices in China are stabilising after intense competition, with average revenue per unit decreasing by only 0.35 per cent in 2025 compared with 7.9 per cent in 2024.

High-payload cobots are seeing strong growth. The market is shifting toward medium and heavy payload ranges, aligning with the rise of ‘industrial cobots’. Traditionally limited to light payloads of 10 kg or less, the market is expanding into 16–20 kg and over 20 kg segments, overlapping with industrial robot applications.

Samantha Mou, Senior Analyst, Interact Analysis, notes, “This upward payload shift aligns closely with vendor product strategies. Examples include ABB's PoWa series for China and JAKA's 40 kg model (with a 90 kg model in development). These ‘industrial cobots’ penetrate traditional industrial robot applications while retaining collaborative safety features, targeting automotive parts, metal processing, and warehousing scenarios that require high-payload, cost-effective automation.”