Still yet to really take off over here in huge numbers are robotic mowers.
Key manufacturers are pushing them and indeed I've heard anecdotally that some dealers are doing really quite well with them - just no real major crossover as of yet. It seems fair to still describe them as a niche product.
Go into Europe though and they are incredibly popular. At a Husqvarna conference I attended in Stockholm late last year, where various experts were speculating on the future of the mowing industry, the statistic was given that already 1 in 3 mowers sold in Sweden is a robot
Significantly it wasn't just in domestic scenarios where robots were being used, it was beginning to take hold in some professional applications too. Certainly, this was an area which the manufacturer had real belief where future growth would come from. Andreas Kallming, Product Manager for Robotic Mowers confirmed at the time that it was the company's intention to see this branch of Husqvarna increase worldwide, saying "It's time to go commercial with robotic mowing."
Andreas went on to say how the company see the benefits to commercial robotic mowing as being fourfold. These being improvements to costs, to the environment, to health & safety and to the cutting result.
A neatly comprehensible example they gave to illustrate how effective a robot could be in a commercial cutting application is that of one being deployed on a busy roundabout. In a scenario such as this it could be difficult and dangerous for an operator to drive a ride-on across several lanes of busy traffic. Not only is it hazardous but it could take some considerable time.
A strategically deployed robot could be controlled, and most importantly monitored and performance analysed, from a safe remote position.
It was therefore interesting to read news of a market intelligence report from a company called Beige recently, that has predicted that the worldwide robotic mower market will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19% in terms of volume and 17% in terms of revenue between now and 2022.
This report speculates on what it sees as the drivers which will instigate this growth. These are:
- Residential construction. The report believes that a rise in construction of new residential properties will propel the demand for landscaping services, which, in turn, would boost the replacement of old lawnmowers, thereby boosting demand for robotic lawnmowers as they are amongst the latest trends in the market. Commercial mowing of these properties will also fuel sales of robots they say.
- Robot adoption. The newest trend witnessed in the robotic lawnmowers market is increased adoption of smart robotic technologies among end-users across the world. Increased influence of the internet over end-users’ purchasing behaviour also has a major impact on robotic lawnmower sales says the report.
- Busier lifestyle. As it is difficult for some to take time out for lawn maintenance, end-users will increasingly come to depend on robotic lawnmowers in assisting in lawn care. The sophisticated autonomy of these devices will help end-users reduce the time consumed to perform the weekly mow it's predicated.
- Aging population. A growing aging population is another major factor driving the growth of robotic lawnmowers. This demographic wants more free time to spend as they wish, and sometimes find difficulty in performing more laborious household chores such as lawnmowing.
- Increased promotion. Manufacturers will be simply promoting robotic lawnmowers more which will lead to an increased consumer awareness and product adoption.
The major challenges the report sees to robotic take-up is the increased use of synthetic turf, which obviously hinders growth of all lawnmowing machines, and the prohibitive cost of the products.
This latter point might seem to be changing though. Robomow are currently offering their new RX12U for £499. This sort of price could well be tempting for consumers interested in dipping their toe in the robotic market. And I'm sure other manufacturers will soon follow suit with similar pricing points designed to get buyers to think that that 500 quid they've got to spend on a fairly decent mower could be spent on one which they don't have to push around?!
Whether this report's vision of a 19% volume increase with 5 years is accurate, time will tell, but what does seem likely is that dealers will be stocking them in increasing numbers in their stores.
