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The new UR20 cobot features a 20 kg payload and 30% more speed and torque compared to other UR cobots. | Credit: Universal Robots

Teradyne‘s industrial automation group generated $101 million in revenue for the second quarter of 2022. The group’s revenue grew 10% from Q2 2021 and 19% for the first half. Revenue declined slightly from the $103 million generated in the first quarter of 2022.

Teradyne’s industrial automation group consists of AutoGuide Mobile Robots, Energid, Mobile Industrial Robots (MiR) and Universal Robots (UR). Energid’s revenue is included with UR’s and AutoGuide is still being revamped.

As always, UR led the group with $83 million in revenue during Q2 2022. That is up 8% year-over-year, with the highest growth in Northern Europe, but down slightly from the record $85 million the collaborative robotic arm pioneer generated in Q1 2022. MiR sales were $17 million for the quarter, which is up 9% from Q2 2021 in the quarter, but flat compared to the $17 million generated in Q1 2022.

Greg Smith, named president of Teradyne on July 1, 2022, said growth has been slower than planned for the first half of 2022. He attributed this to two main factors.

“The first factor was foreign exchange,” he said during Teradyne’s earnings call. “The majority of [industrial automation] revenue is linked to the Euro. For example, within Europe, at UR, we saw a robust 34% unit growth in the first half of 2022, but the decline of the Euro with respect to the dollar has muted UR revenue growth in that region to 20%.

“The second factor is lower regional demand that can be traced to a variety of region-specific causes, including COVID lockdowns in China and distribution partner staff shortages in North America where end demand remains quite strong.”

Teradyne CEO Mark Jagiela said the company is forecasting its industrial automation business to grow at about a 20% year-over-year level during the second half of 2022. That is below the company’s original 35% goal.

“As Greg highlighted, we believe that China demand will remain muted,” Jagiela said during the earnings call. “Distributor labor shortages in North America will limit the rate of installation expansion in the short-term and FX headwinds will not abate.”

In June 2022, UR introduced its UR20 cobot arm, the Danish company’s fastest and strongest cobot arm ever. The UR20 is expected to be available for pre-order in late Q4 2022 and will begin shipping in Q2 2023 for an undisclosed price. Anders Beck, VP of innovation and strategy at UR, discussed on The Robot Report Podcast how the UR20 was designed from the ground up and how a new joint design drives the UR20’s performance. You can listen to the interview with Beck below, starting at the 28:39 mark.