Market Overview

Speed reducers are the machinery devices that reduce the rotary speed and output the energy by using gears. When using devices such as a motor, a speed reducer is necessary to acquire appropriate rotation speed of the motor. The number of rotations of a motor decreases depending on the speed reduction ratio and increases the torque. A speed reducer basically consists of gears, axes, and bearings. There are various types (in methods and structures) depending on how they are combined and built and according to the frame. The names vary depending on each type, including those that are named after the structure or shape.

Those small, precision speed reducers used for the joints of robots or for positioning motors (mainly servo motors) in the driving systems of various machine tools or other industrial machinery are wave-gear reducers, cycloid reducers, and RV-drive reducers.

Encouraged by the increasing demand for speed reducers in robots and various machine tools, the global market size of small, precision speed reducer market in 2018 grew by 17.5% to have achieved 4,030 thousand units based on the shipment volume at the makers. However, the demand has decreased rapidly since the latter half of 2018, and likely to continue on for the first half of 2019. As the orders for speed reducers likely to recover in the latter half of the year, the global market size of small, precision speed reducers in 2019 is projected to attain 3,600 thousand, 89.3% of the size of the preceding year.

Noteworthy Topics

Trends of Small, Precision Speed Reducer Makers

Those currently used as small, precision speed reducers are wave-gear reducers, cycloid-gear reducers, and RV-drive reducers. With each type made by one or two makers, total 4 companies are dominating the market.


In such a status, some of those makers that had only made planetary gear reducers started entering the market of other types of speed reducers. Among various types, wave-gear reducers seem to have technological challenges to overcome, as some makers shifted from developing wave-gear to cycloid reducers.

Future Outlook

Usually, it is supposed to be not difficult to forecast the demand for small, precision speed reducers in the six months ahead or a year ahead. However, while many speed reducer makers have just made themselves available for mass production, the demand has slowed down, just like a break has been applied. When considering product stocks, it became difficult to predict when the market recovers. Even if the demand rapidly recovers, it can be difficult for the makers to respond to the demand without any time lags.  


The forecast of the market status varies by each maker: Some makers say that the market deteriorates further, while others say that it is on the recovery.


However, when considering its original potential, the current declined demand for small, precision speed reducers is likely to be temporary. It is projected to recover by 2020 and beyond. With CAGR expected to be 9.28% from 2017 to 2021, the shipment volume of small, precision speed reducers is likely to attain 4,890 thousand by 2021.

Research Outline