Robot Demand Broadens Beyond Auto OEMs

A3 reports modest North American robot order growth in Q2, led by varied industrial sectors.

What Changed

North American companies ordered 8,940 robots worth $622 million in Q2 2026, A3 reported.

That was a 4.3% gain in units from Q2 2025.
Order value rose 21.3%, according to A3.

The shift was not driven by automotive vehicle makers.
Automotive OEM orders fell 25% during the first half of 2026.

Other buyers helped offset that weakness.
Non-automotive customers made up 56% of Q2 robot units ordered.

Where Demand Grew

A3 reported the strongest Q2 unit growth in semiconductors, electronics, and photonics.
Orders there rose 38% from a year earlier.

Automotive component makers increased orders 20%.
Food and consumer goods rose 18%.

Metals also rose 18%, A3 said.
Life sciences, pharma, and biomedical orders grew 9%.

This is a broader industrial automation trend, not proof of humanoid deployment.
The reported figures cover robot orders across the market.

Deployment Reality

These are orders, not confirmed installed systems or working fleet results.
A3’s data does not show robot uptime, task success, or labor savings.

It also does not separate humanoid orders from other robot types.
Industrial automation remains the leading robotics segment, according to A3.

Collaborative robots remained a notable share of the market.
Companies ordered 1,137 cobots worth $44 million in Q2.

For operators, the signal is demand across more factory sectors.
The unknown is whether those orders translate into durable deployment performance.