Why Robots? Robots are present not only where strength or precision is needed. With shrinking farmland, growing populations and the need to increase food supplies, agriculture is another field likely to benefit from robot use, such as driverless tractors, drones, or swarm robots for the harvest season. They could cut costs and be suitable even for indoor farming. According to the "Agricultural Robots" report by Tractica, by 2024 annual shipments of these robots are likely to reach 992,000 from 33,000 in 2015. Personal household robots help us with the "dirty work." At the Starwood Hotel in Palo Alto, California, robots exchange towels, and robot vacuum cleaners are sold widely both in Europe and the US. There is also Jibo, a "family robot" designed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology which recognizes different family members and reads stories to children. In the mainstream consciousness, robots are R2-D2 creatures, but one cannot forget that they are much more. Leaving the hardware part aside, every robot needs an operating system which enables it to perform its actions. For example "driverless cars need a software to control them," says Uwe Neumann, Credit Suisse Equity Research Analyst, "The fact the car is produced by Mercedes doesn't mean Mercedes produces the software. It is produced by companies which specialize in it.
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Why Robots?
Robots are present not only where strength or precision is needed. With shrinking farmland, growing populations and the need to increase food supplies, agriculture is another field likely to benefit from robot use, such as driverless tractors, drones, or swarm robots for the harvest season. They could cut costs and be suitable even for indoor farming. According to the "Agricultural Robots" report by Tractica, by 2024 annual shipments of these robots are likely to reach 992,000 from 33,000 in 2015.
Personal household robots help us with the "dirty work." At the Starwood Hotel in Palo Alto, California, robots exchange towels, and robot vacuum cleaners are sold widely both in Europe and the US. There is also Jibo, a "family robot" designed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology which recognizes different family members and reads stories to children.
In the mainstream consciousness, robots are R2-D2 creatures, but one cannot forget that they are much more. Leaving the hardware part aside, every robot needs an operating system which enables it to perform its actions. For example "driverless cars need a software to control them," says Uwe Neumann, Credit Suisse Equity Research Analyst, "The fact the car is produced by Mercedes doesn't mean Mercedes produces the software. It is produced by companies which specialize in it."
Investors' Goldmine?
Although probably still some way from its full investment potential, the robot sector seems promising for further development. "We can observe positive trends in this market. For now it is more of an evolution, but it is accelerating," says Neumann.
Tractica estimates that the next five years will revolutionize the way we think about robots. Non-industrial robot revenues are likely to grow 10-fold within this period, and with the development of AI, Big Data Analytics and the Internet of Things we will start to perceive robots not only in hardware, but also in software terms. For investors it is an important hint.
Governments Want to Invest
The potential of robotics has been already recognized by some governments. Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe proposed including it in the country's growth plan. Launched in 2014, the plan assumed 20-fold growth in the use of robots in agriculture and two-fold in manufacturing by 2020. With Japan's population declining, robots should help boost productivity. Although people are afraid of job losses, robots could take on the dangerous and dirty jobs which humans should not or do not want to perform.
Where to Invest?
"Around the world, new players and markets are emerging to assume an important role in the ongoing development of the robotics industry," says Tractica research director Aditya Kaul. "Technologies like AI, machine vision, voice and speech recognition, tactile sensors, and gesture control will drive robotic capabilities far beyond what is possible today, especially in terms of autonomy."
With advancing technology, robotics opens a new investment world with plenty of options. One can invest in hardware or software, both on the rise. "Given the variety of potential capabilities, investing in different application segments of the robotic market makes most sense," claims Neumann. Both big players on the market and startups which offer tempting high-yield investments and a group of future-oriented investors in robotics are growing.
The future is here. It seems that robots will stay with us for good and that they will become more and more advanced. The robotics evolution definitely provides some food for thought for every investor.