Robotics industry suffers from economic downturn

Robotics industry suffers from economic downturn, though defence-related and medical robotics continues to flourish
Robotics industry suffers from economic downturn, though defence-related and medical robotics continues to flourish

According to latest reports from the robotics industry, industrial robotics stocks have suffered of late due to the global economic downturn.

However, certain sectors of the robotics industry – notably defence-related and medical robotics – continue to flourish despite the credit crunch.

"The state of today's robotics is as a key transformative technology comparable to the introduction of the personal computer," claims Robo-Stox - a listing of a segment of the robotics industry whose ownership is publically traded on the world's stock markets.

The Robot Report

"Currently the index, when compared to NASDAQ, shows that industrial robotics stocks have suffered by their affinity with the auto industry and with the economy in general," reads the report on brand new site The Robot Report.

"Service robotics (the sector focused on assisting people at work and in their daily lives at home) has also suffered with few exceptions: defense-related and medical/surgical."

However, despite the downward spiral in the global economy, all is not doom and gloom in the world of robotics research, with technologies having "sufficiently progressed to enable an increasing number of semi-autonomous robotic solutions in the areas of healthcare, national infrastructure and resource management, security, transportation, logistics and education."

Adam Hartley