Currently, the global collaborative robot (cobot) market is experiencing a dual inflection point of rapid expansion and performance upgrades. According to data from MIR Research, the global cobot sales volume is projected to achieve a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 29% from 2025 to 2028. In 2025, China’s cobot market volume exceeded 40,000 units, a year-on-year growth of 33%, accounting for nearly 50% of the global share, making it the world's largest cobot market.
At the critical juncture when the market is transitioning from light-duty flexible collaboration to industrial-grade high-performance collaboration, ABB Robotics launched the new full series of PoWa™ collaborative robots in April 2026, achieving full coverage of six payload models ranging from 7–30 kg. With a maximum speed of 5.8 m/s under rated payload, ultra-simplified deployment, and industrial-grade precision, it breaks the industry bottleneck of "slow speed and low payload" in traditional cobots, providing brand-new automation options for both SMEs and large-scale manufacturing enterprises.
01. Leaping Market Demands: Cobots Advancing Towards Industrial Heavy Payloads Most cobots typically focus on light-payload and low-cycle-time scenarios, falling short in high-demand industrial applications such as high-speed machine tool tending, heavy-duty palletizing, and welding. Conversely, while traditional industrial robots boast robust performance, they suffer from complex deployment, large footprints, and difficulties in human-robot collaboration, which contradict the needs of SMEs for flexible production and rapid changeovers.
The market demand for cobots in China has already presented three core development trends: Expansion of the heavy-payload trend: In 2024, the market share of cobots with a payload of 15 kg and above in China approached 20%. The emergence of heavy-payload cobots fills the market gap in applications requiring large payload handling and high rigidity; Performance upgrades: End-users are no longer satisfied with mere "human-robot collaboration"; they now demand industrial-grade performance featuring high throughput, high rigidity, and high precision; Lowered barriers: SMEs are in urgent need of lightweight automation solutions that are ready-to-use out of the box, feature code-free programming, and allow for rapid deployment.
The full-matrix expansion of the PoWa series by ABB Robotics precisely hits this wave of market demand, expanding the cobot category that combines "collaborative form factor + industrial performance".
In July 2025, ABB Robotics debuted the PoWa cobot series in the Chinese market, launching two base models of 10 kg and 13 kg. In April 2026, ABB Robotics expanded the high-speed PoWa cobot lineup, adding the 7 kg, 16 kg, 20 kg, and 30 kg models. This creates a full 7–30 kg payload matrix, supporting more industrial use cases. It addresses automation requirements for high-speed, high-payload tasks including machine tool tending, palletizing and welding.
For instance, in machine tool tending, the ABB PoWa cobot series features a longer reach compared to other cobots with the same payload (for example, the reach of the 13 kg PoWa is increased by 11% compared to other cobots of the same payload). The advantage of this long reach lies in the ability to complete multiple processes within confined spaces. Meanwhile, heavy-payload cobots can handle the loading and unloading of heavier workpieces, expanding the application scope of machine tool tending automation.
02. Multi-Dimensional Performance Advancement: PoWa Defines a New Benchmark for Collaboration As the application demands for cobots in the manufacturing industry continue to upgrade, the market has set higher standards for the comprehensive performance, scenario adaptability, deployment convenience, and underlying control capabilities of cobots. Against this industry backdrop, relying on its complete payload matrix and targeted product design, the ABB PoWa series comprehensively matches the actual rigid demands of current industrial production in all aspects, from operational efficiency, body structure, and deployment experience to underlying control.
From a technical perspective, the operational cycle time of cobots has become the key to differentiating products. Under rated payload conditions, the ABB PoWa cobot series achieves a maximum TCP (Tool Center Point) speed of up to 5.8 m/s, ranking at the forefront of the industry among medium and heavy-payload cobots of the same class. This performance breaks the inherent stereotype in the market that cobots are slow and inefficient. The production cycle time has now approached the level of traditional industrial robots, enabling cobots to truly enter the main stations of the production line and undertake core production tasks.
Given the industry status quo of compact factory production line layouts and limited station spaces, the ABB PoWa series has also made targeted adaptations in its product structure. The PoWa series models adopt a compact body design, avoiding the shortcomings of traditional heavy-duty equipment, which are bulky and space-consuming, and can be flexibly adapted to various confined station scenarios. For example, the CRB 1810 robot occupies a small space and requires no physical fencing. Paired with the ultra-compact E10 controller, it can maximize workspace efficiency, achieving flexible and rapid deployment as well as easy installation.
In terms of industry popularization trends, low barriers and rapid deployment have always been the inevitable direction for cobot development. SMEs generally lack professional robot programming and O&M (Operations and Maintenance) personnel, and complex debugging processes have long constrained the implementation of automation. Equipped with quick operation buttons on the side of the body, the ABB PoWa series supports code-free programming and is compatible with a rich ecosystem of third-party accessories. It is ready for operation within one hour of unboxing, and achieves seamless plug-and-play with various tools, combining industrial-grade connectivity and performance with the flexibility of cobots. This not only fits the actual application needs of SMEs but also significantly lowers the technical barriers and debugging time costs for automation transformation, promoting the rapid penetration of flexible automation solutions into small and medium-sized factories.
Whether it is achieving intuitive programming, rapid deployment, or the highly integrated fusion of speed and payload, looking at the underlying technical logic, it ultimately relates to the hardware and software architecture of the controller, which directly determines the performance ceiling of medium and heavy-payload cobots. This is also one of the core advantages of ABB Robotics all along. We understand that the brand-new PoWa cobot series is driven by the ABB OmniCore controller platform and can integrate ABB Robotics' ever-expanding AI (Artificial Intelligence) software suite (including RobotStudio® and Wizard Easy Programming). This not only continues the inherent advantages of cobots in human-robot integration and flexible deployment but also guarantees motion precision and overall operational stability under high-payload and high-speed conditions from the underlying level.
Furthermore, in terms of safety, the PoWa series also delivers industry-leading protection. The PoWa series adopts the SafeMove safety solution, which includes the PFL (Power and Force Limiting) safety design to ensure safety during transient and quasi-static contacts. At the same time, combined with safety devices, it implements the SSM (Speed and Separation Monitoring) safety function, which can provide safety assurance during high-speed manufacturing processes.
03. Deepening Local Roots and Layout: Full-Chain Empowerment for the Implementation of the PoWa Series Facing the fiercely competitive Chinese robot market, ABB Robotics builds differentiated advantages through the localization of the entire value chain, which is also the key to the rapid implementation and market recognition of the PoWa series.
When the PoWa cobot series was just released, Han Chen, Senior Vice President of ABB Group and President of Robotics in China, stated, "This series is led by the Chinese team in design, development, manufacturing, and full-lifecycle service provision, deeply aligning with the unique needs of local customers. This is not only a concentrated display of our localization capabilities but also a solid commitment from ABB Robotics to the Chinese market and customers, winning the future together." Meanwhile, the PoWa cobot series is also designed, developed, and put into production at the R&D center of the ABB Robotics Super Factory in Shanghai, fully realizing "Designed in China, Made in China, and Serviced in China".
From the perspective of the industry landscape, ABB Robotics is also one of the foreign robot enterprises that earlier established a closed-loop full value chain in China, covering R&D, production, sales, and after-sales services. Relying on a service network covering 22 cities in China, it further improves local service response capabilities and continuously adapts to the long-term needs of the upgrading of China's manufacturing industry.
Conclusion From the debut of the PoWa cobot series to the expansion of new models, the ABB PoWa series is not just a product iteration, but a profound response from a foreign robot giant to the demands of the Chinese market and the global cobot trends.
In the future, medium and heavy-payload cobots that combine industrial-grade performance, collaborative flexibility, and ultra-simplified deployment will become the market mainstream. And benchmark products represented by PoWa will help global manufacturing advance towards a more efficient, flexible, and intelligent direction.
Access the MIR DATABANK Professional Manufacturing Data Platform for additional manufacturing statistics, company profiles and research reports: https://www.mirdatabank.com