Humanoid robots could generate $154 billion in revenue over next 15 years, Goldman Sachs reports
The investment giant was inspired by Tesla’s Optimus to conduct the report.
A new Goldman Sachs report is revealing that humanoid robots could be a $154 billion-a-year business within the next 15 years, according to a report by Electrek published on Thursday.
This is as much as the EV market, an impressive achievement to reach in so little time if you consider how long robots have been around. In the past, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said that the robot industry may eventually be worth more than Tesla’s automobile income.
The investment giant was also inspired by Tesla’s new unveiling of its own robot to conduct the report.
Optimus sparks debate
“The launch of Tesla’s humanoid robot prototype, the “Optimus”, has again sparked debate about the financial opportunities of such innovation. The investment case for humanoid robots is sizable – we estimate that in 10-15 years a market size of at least US$6bn is achievable to fill 4$ of the US manufacturing labor shortage gap by 2030E and 2% of global elderly care demand by 2035,” wrote Goldman Sachs in its report.
“Should the hurdles of product design, use case, technology, affordability and wide public acceptance be completely overcome, we envision a market of up to US$152bn by 2035E in a blue-sky scenario (close to that of the global EV market and one-third of the global smartphone market as of 2021), which suggests labor shortage issues such as for manufacturing and elderly care can be solved to a large extent.”
But are we really at a stage where robots can be incorporated into our industries?
Musk’s Texas-based company is reportedly considering ambitious plans to use thousands of humanoid robots within its factories before eventually extending to millions globally.
The tech billionaire already unveiled his ‘Optimus’ humanoid robot, along with an improved smart summon feature, on Tesla’s AI Day 2 on September 30 2022.
Monotonous or hazardous tasks
Optimus was first designed to replace humans who perform monotonous or hazardous tasks.
Earlier, in 2021, during the robot’s first inaugural event, Musk said that Optimus is built using the same sensors and chipsets as Tesla’s self-driving automobiles. It stands five feet eight inches tall and features a screen with relevant information on where the head should be.
Furthermore, the robot’s head also houses Autopilot cameras. Despite this, it only weighs 125 pounds but can lift 150 pounds and can carry 45 pounds. It can also travel at five miles per hour.
According to a recent report by Markets and Markets, the humanoid robot market was already valued at $1.5 billion in 2022 and is estimated to reach $17.3 billion by 2027. These estimates are less ambitious than Goldman Sachs’ but still indicate a positive growth.
Analysts at Markets and Markets attribute this rise to the increase in robots with advanced features in the retail and medical industries. The market however is currently being held back by the high cost of research and development attributed to the robotics sector. As technology advances, making the engineering of robots more practical, there is no telling how far the sector will develop.
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