Global Humanoid Robots Market (by Component, Motion Type, Application, & Region): Insights and Forecast with Potential Impact of COVID-19 (2022-2027)

Humanoid robots are service robots with body shapes designed to imitate human bodies. Humanoid robots are utilised in power plant inspection, maintenance, and disaster response to relieve human workers of hard and risky jobs. They are also prepared to take over ordinary activities for astronauts during space travel.

Humanoid robots with artificial intelligence algorithms are widely used in the healthcare sector as medical assistants and training aids because they can do laborious and difficult tasks from a variety of body positions. As a result, rising demand from the healthcare industry is one of the primary factors driving the demand for humanoid robots in the coming years. The global humanoid robots market is predicted to rise to US$3.04 billion in 2023, progressing at a CAGR of 41.16%, during the forecast period.

Segment Covered

• By Component: In terms of component, the report identifies two segments of the global humanoid robots market: Hardware and Software. The hardware held the maximum share in the market. On the other hand, the software segment is expected to grow at the highest CAGR in the forthcoming years on account of rising adoption of artificial intelligence algorithms in humanoid robots to boost robot’s performance.
• By Motion Type: The report provides the categorization of the market into two segments on the basis of motion type: Bipedal and Wheel Drive. The bipedal motion type held largest share in the market. The segment is expected to grow at the highest CAGR in the forthcoming years segment owing to rising demand for biped robots as they are capable of walking on the feet like humans. In addition, beneficial features associated with the bipedal humanoids such as self-maintenance, autonomous learning, security, etc., that provide efficient assistance to human task is estimated to contribute to the bipedal segment growth in the forecasted period.
• By Application: The report further splits the global market into six segments based on the application: Retail & Healthcare, Hospitality, Healthcare, Military & Defense, Construction and Others. The retail & healthcare held the highest share in the market. The market's expansion is aided by growing emphasis of the retail sector to enhance customer engagement by implementation of smart technologies such as humanoid robots and high adoption for personal assistance and caregiving to provide patients with personal care at hospitals and homes.

Geographic Coverage

According to this report, the humanoid robots market can be divided into four regions, namely Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, and the Rest of the World. The countries covered in Asia Pacific region are China, Japan, South Korea, India, and Rest of the Asia Pacific, while North America includes the US, Canada, and Mexico. Moreover, Germany, Italy, France, The UK, and Rest of Europe are included in the Europe region. Asia Pacific held the dominating share in the market owing to growing availability of most sophisticated and advanced robots at lower prices along with the large number of players present in the APAC region. In North America, the US is expected to be the fastest growing region in the forecasted period. Whereas, in Europe region, Germany held major share in the market owing to the increasing adoption of humanoid robots by the industrial verticals due to modernization and industrialization in the region, surge in demand for automation in personal and professional sector, and increasing number of elderly care centres.

Top Impacting Factors

Growth Drivers

• Accelerating Adoption for Educational Purposes
• Rising Income Levels
• Increasing Geriatric Population
• Surging Demand from Healthcare Sector

Challenges

• Lack of High Level Interfacing
• Privacy & Security Concerns

Trends

• Rising Adoption in Aviation Industry
• Growing Demand from Retail Industry for Personal Assistance
• Expansion of Construction Industry
• Technological Advancements

Driver: Accelerating Adoption for Educational Purposes

These robots assist educators in teaching as well as help enhance the students' motivation, engagement, and concentration. In addition to these abilities, the humanoid robots enable educators to create an enhanced interactive education session, which is propelling their adoption and bolstering the market growth. For instance, SoftBank Robotics’ humanoid robot, Nao, is transforming how STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education is conducted in schools. It has also been touted to be of immense benefit for children with special needs. Moreover, the use of these robots for teaching languages is another factor bolstering the market growth. Hence, with growing education expenditure, the adoption of these robots for educational purposes is bound to increase, which in turn, has encouraged the global humanoid robots market growth.

Challenge: High Initial Cost and Research & Development Expenses

A major challenge faced by the humanoid robots industry is the high initial cost and research & development expenses. Academic robots, programmable industrial or service provider robots, and other robots made with mass-market components may perform simple tasks and are easily available in the marketplace at a competitive price. However, in the case of humanoid robots, as the level of complexity of tasks increases, the cost of R&D incurred into it also increases. The overall cost associated with humanoid robots includes component costs, repair, and maintenance costs, and research and development costs required for developing advanced and professional humanoid robots. The price disparity is almost 140%, which makes it impossible for the humanoid robot makers to compete. The high cost of humanoid robots acts as a major restraining factor for market growth.

Trend: Growing Demand from Retail Industry for Personal Assistance

Humanoid robots are employed in commercial or retail outlets to provide customers, demonstrate components, and help to gather customer data effectively such as phone numbers, zip codes, email addresses, and service feedbacks. Big retailers like Walmart and Amazon use a lot of different robots in their warehouses and retail stores to do the jobs like inventory management and to deliver unique experiences to the customers. The growth in retail sales would lead to rising adoption of humanoid robots.

The COVID-19 Analysis

In 2020, the pandemic affected growth of the humanoid robot market by halting the export of humanoid robot components, impacting the production of humanoid robots during the initial phase of 2020. However, the demand for humanoid robots increased in the healthcare sector in the second half of 2020. Humanoid robots handled COVID-19 panic situations at healthcare facilities by assisting and providing relief to over-burdened medical staff. They were used in hospitals to ensure the safety of the medical staff and supply food and medicines to the patients affected by the virus.

Analysis of Key Players

The global humanoid robots market is consolidated, with a few companies accounting for majority market revenue share. The key players in the global humanoid robots market are Honda Motor Co., Ltd., Toyota Motor Corporation, Toshiba Corporation, Kawada Technologies, Inc. (Kawada Robotic Corporation), SoftBank Group Corp., Hyulim Robot Co., Ltd., Hanson Robotics Limited, Hyundai Motor Group (Boston Dynamics), Agility Robotics Inc., Engineered Arts Limited, Hajime Research Institute Ltd., UBTECH Robotics Inc., and Qihan Technology Co., Ltd.