North American companies ordered 8,940 robots valued at $622 million in the second quarter of 2026, with unit orders rising 4.3% and order value increasing 21.3% from the same period a year earlier, according to data from the Association for Advancing Automation. First-half orders totaled 17,995 units valued at $1.166 billion. That represented a 2% increase in units and a 6.6% rise in order value compared with the first half of 2025.
Demand shifted further beyond automotive manufacturers during the period. Orders from automotive original equipment manufacturers declined 25% in the first half from a year earlier, while several other sectors recorded higher volumes.
Semiconductor, electronics and photonics companies increased first-half robot orders by 35%, while life sciences, pharmaceutical and biomedical customers recorded a 32% rise. Orders from automotive component manufacturers increased 24%, food and consumer goods companies rose 17%, plastics and rubber businesses increased 6%, and metals companies recorded growth of 3%.
The pattern was also evident in the second quarter. Semiconductor, electronics and photonics orders increased 38% year over year, while automotive component orders rose 20%. Food and consumer goods and metals companies each increased orders by 18%, while life sciences, pharmaceutical and biomedical customers recorded a 9% increase.
Non-automotive customers accounted for 56% of robot units ordered during the second quarter. Collaborative robots represented 2,774 units valued at $114 million during the first half, equivalent to 15.4% of total robot units ordered and 9.8% of order value. Second-quarter collaborative robot orders totaled 1,137 units valued at $44 million, accounting for 12.7% of units and 7.1% of quarterly order value.
Collaborative robots accounted for 43.7% of first-half robot orders in life sciences, pharmaceuticals and biomedicine and 36.5% of orders in semiconductors, electronics and photonics. “The first half of 2026 shows how the mix of the robotics market continues to evolve,” said Alex Shikany, executive vice president at A3. “Automotive remains an important driver of demand, while we’re also seeing growth across a wider range of industries. Results were not uniform across every sector, but the breadth of growth outside Automotive OEM is an important trend we’ll continue to watch.”
Manufacturing conditions remained supportive of automation spending during the first half. Manufacturing purchasing managers’ index data remained in expansion territory for a sixth consecutive month in June, while Federal Reserve data showed manufacturing output was 1.1% above its year-earlier level that month. Quarterly robot demand remains subject to the timing of large automotive projects and broader economic conditions, according to A3.
