Nearly 9 million robots in the world

Nearly 9 million robots in the world in 2008 (8.6 million exactly). That's according to the official report by IEEE Spectrum using 2009 data from World Robotics. Of the 8.6 million, there are 7.3 million service robots (RobotShop's core business), that's 85 %, and 1.3 million industrial robots. To give you some idea, 8.6 million is a little more than the population of Quebec, and that represents the population of New Jersey. Will the billion mark be reached in 10, 20 years time? On the chart above you can see that the robot population has doubled in 2 years. By continuing at the same pace we'll cross the billion line around 2022. via IEEE