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Technological Systems and Economic Performance: The Case of Factory Automation pp 323–357Cite as

Diffusion and Industrial Dynamics in the Robot Industry

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Part of the book series: Economics of Science, Technology and Innovation ((ESTI,volume 5))

Abstract

The robot industry was founded by American firms in the early 1960s; ten years later the installed robots world-wide numbered close to 5,000 units. In 1989 the world market had grown to 80,000 units annually, the total installed stock being round 320,000 units (IFR 1990). During these years the initiative moved from the American scene to Japan. Today the Japanese market is the largest, constituting 70 per cent of the world market, and Japanese companies dominate the global robot industry. Nevertheless, a number of primarily European firms have grown to become quite successful. The most prominent of these is the Swedish firm ABB Robotics, now a market leader in the robot industry.

An earlier version of this paper was published in the International Journal of Technology Management Special Issue on ‘Manufacturing Technology: Diffusion, Implementation and Management,’ 8 (5–6), 1993, pp. 259–281.

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Authors
  1. Kristina Dahlin
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA

    Bo Carlsson

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© 1995 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Dahlin, K. (1995). Diffusion and Industrial Dynamics in the Robot Industry. In: Carlsson, B. (eds) Technological Systems and Economic Performance: The Case of Factory Automation. Economics of Science, Technology and Innovation, vol 5. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-0145-5_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-0145-5_11

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-010-4065-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-011-0145-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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