Which industrial robot is stronger? Green Harmonics saw its net profit increase by nearly 150% last year, and Hagong Intelligent lost 400 million yuan

Some listed companies have announced their 2021 performance estimates

Robots are known as "the pearl at the top of the manufacturing crown", which is an important symbol to measure the level of scientific and technological innovation and high-end manufacturing in a country, and is also a key carrier for the realization of intelligent manufacturing. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the output of industrial robots in the mainland will reach 366044 sets in 2021, an increase of 44.9% year-on-year, a record.

However, in the 2021 performance estimates announced by major listed industrial robot companies, there are good and bad, net profits have risen sharply, and net profit corrections and losses are not in the minority. Among them, the net profit of green harmonics increased by 125.47% -149.84% year-on-year, followed by Xinshida, which is expected to increase net profit by 148 million to 174 million yuan; while Tostar, Robot, and Hagong Intelligent lost money, and robots and Hagong Intelligent both lost more than 400 million.

Lu Yinghua, director of new business development of CIMC, said in an interview with the China Times reporter: "The degree of robot customization is very high, so it is not easy to make a profit. At the same time, the core technologies are in foreign countries, involving algorithms, core components, etc., so domestic robot companies are catching up with each other in time. ”

A number of companies lost more than 400 million

Looking back at the output trend of industrial robots in 2021, the overall trend of high opening and low going is presented.

From January to June 2021, the cumulative output of industrial robots was 173,630 sets, an increase of 69.80% year-on-year, and the output of industrial robots reached the peak of the whole year in June. After entering the third quarter, the growth rate of industrial robot production began to slow down, MIR Rui Industrial statistics show that the third quarter robot shipments increased by 28.7% year-on-year to 61,600 units, a year-on-year growth rate compared with the first and second quarters of 96.3%, 75.8% compared with the level of significant slowdown. Finally, from January to December 2021, the output of industrial robots in industrial enterprises above designated size in the country reached 366044 sets, an increase of 44.9% year-on-year.

Many institutions pointed out in the research report that the impact of the epidemic in the first half of the year, coupled with the return of overseas orders and other factors, promoted the development of the domestic robot industry, and the market demand for robots increased significantly. However, the performance of the third quarter report of robot companies in 2021 is not optimistic, and there is a sharp rise in revenue and a sharp decline in profits.

Lu Zhangyuan, director of the High-tech Robot Industry Research Institute, said in an interview with the "China Times" reporter that the industrial robot industry grew rapidly in the first half of the year, and the growth rate in the second half of the year was obviously downward, to a large extent, due to the comprehensive impact of the macro environment, raw material price increases, chip shortages, and upper limit electricity.

"China Times" reporter summarized the 2021 annual performance forecasts of listed industrial robot companies, among which the net profits of Xinshida, Eston, Huichuan Technology, and Green Harmonics maintained growth, and the net profit increased significantly year-on-year; while the net profits of the rest of the enterprises were greatly adjusted, and even some enterprises suffered losses.

In profitable enterprises, the reducer faucet green harmonic (688017. SH) bore the brunt of its net profit of 185 million to 205 million yuan, an increase of 125.47% to 149.84% year-on-year 002527; SZ) followed, with a pre-increase of 148 million to 174 million yuan, an increase of 70%-100% year-on-year; and Huichuan Technology (300124. SZ) its net profit increased by 3.25 billion to 3.675 billion yuan, an increase of 55% -75% year-on-year, but it should be noted that its industrial robot business accounted for a small proportion, but developed rapidly, achieving revenue of 290 million yuan, an increase of 134% year-on-year. Another robotics company, 002747. SZ) did not disclose the 2021 annual performance forecast, but Kaiyuan Securities gave an assessment of "expected net profit of 158 million yuan in 2021" in the research report.

There are also companies facing a pullback or loss. Tostar (300607. SZ) had a net profit of 51 million yuan to 75 million yuan, down 85.57%-90.19% year-on-year, plunging more than 440 million yuan; robot (300024.SZ) net profit loss of 440 million to 582 million yuan; Harbin Intelligent (000584.SZ) net profit loss of 450 million to 630 million yuan.

Although most listed companies are explaining the reasons for the change in performance are different, the significant increase in operating costs is the main reason, such as the rise in chips and raw materials. In addition, limited by technical barriers, most of the domestic robot companies are mainly engaged in the production of low-end robot products, and there is a price difference with the four major foreign robot companies, and the profit is small.

There are large technical barriers to the production of core components

Technical barriers are one of the main reasons that limit the development of industrial robots in the mainland.

It is understood that the industrial robot industry chain is composed of three parts: upstream core component production, midstream body manufacturing and downstream system application integration. Upstream core components include reducers, servos, control systems, etc.

"There are large technical barriers to the production of upstream core components." Ren Lang, an analyst at Open Source Securities, pointed out in the research report that this part occupies 70% of the production cost of the industrial robot body and is the main value highland of the industrial chain. With the improvement of domestic technology, some domestic brands can produce parts on a large scale, but they can only meet the needs of the middle and low end.

However, the mainland parts and body technology is gradually breaking through. According to the data of the Prospective Industry Research Institute, the number of patent applications for industrial robots in the mainland will account for 48.84% of the global total in 2020. The harmonic reducer produced by the green harmonic has broken the monopoly of the subdivision industry, and Eston and Huichuan Technology have independent property rights and carried out large-scale production in the servo system and control system.

The government is also increasing support for robot companies.

In the third batch of "specialized new small giant" enterprise list announced by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in July 2021, a total of 4930 companies were selected, of which 133 enterprises related to the robot industry chain were listed. In the previous list of the first and second batches of "specialized new small giant" enterprises, only 5 and 37 were listed. Provinces and municipalities have also issued corresponding support policies.

On December 28, 2021, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the "14th Five-Year" Robot Industry Development Plan and the "14th Five-Year" Intelligent Manufacturing Development Plan.

The "14th Five-Year Plan" robot industry development plan proposes that by 2025, the mainland will become a global source of robot technology innovation, a high-end manufacturing agglomeration and a new highland for integrated applications. A number of robot core technology and high-end products have made breakthroughs, the comprehensive indicators of the whole machine have reached the international advanced level, and the performance and reliability of key components have reached the international level of similar products. The average annual growth rate of operating income of the robot industry is more than 20%. Form a group of internationally competitive leading enterprises and a large number of innovative and good growth of specialized and specialized new "little giant" enterprises, and build 3-5 industrial clusters with international influence. Manufacturing robot density doubled.

It is not only technical barriers that are broken, but also commercial barriers.

According to the "White Paper on the Development of China's Industrial Robot Industry 2020", industrial robots used in the power electronics and automotive industries occupy more than 50% of the market share. However, the market for automotive industry robots is occupied by foreign brands, and the existing competitive landscape is difficult to shake.

According to some data, the number of employees in the mainland's 3C, automobile, food and chemical industries is about 100 million, of which the number of employees in the 3C industry accounts for about 70%. However, the robot density in the 3C industry is only 8, less than one-third of the average density of manufacturing robots. If the density of industrial robots in the mainland 3C industry can reach the density of 1,000 in Japan and South Korea in the same period, the number of industrial robots in the 3C industry will theoretically reach 5 million units.

Tianfeng Securities analyst Li Lujing said in the research report that in the 3C, home appliances, metals, plastic chemicals, food, photovoltaics, lithium batteries and other industries, the industry experience and customer base advantages of foreign brands are not obvious, and downstream industry customers pay more attention to the cost performance and localization service advantages of robot products, which creates a greater opportunity for the development of domestic robots in these fields, and is expected to lead domestic robots to overtake in curves.

Responsible Editor: Xu Yunqian Editor-in-Chief: Gong Peijia