Robot Rentals: Why Renting Beats Buying in Fast-Moving Robotics

Part of the appeal of renting is the speed of hardware improvement. A new humanoid bought today is likely obsolete soon. "Every year the robotics companies release a new model, a new iteration of the hardware," Qi said. "If you own a robot, you can't trade it for a new one, if you rent a robot, you can always rent the newest."

A rental also removes the need for deep technical expertise. Customers take problems to the manufacturer or rental platform. "It helps to solve technical problems because customers don't know how to code the robots," Qi said.

Chicago-based Formic has a fleet of more than 250 industrial robots operating on a robot-as-a-service basis. "Everything is included," said Shawn Fitzgerald, chief revenue officer. "If the robot arm burns out, that's on us and we need to come bring you a new one."

Fitzgerald argued that Formic's flat monthly payment model "levels the playing field" for smaller companies that could not afford to buy factory robots outright. Formic is also testing humanoid robots for industrial uses.

Other payment schemes are emerging. Marco Wang, an analyst at Interact Analysis, said some companies have started requesting that rental fees be directly linked to how much human labour a robot saves them.

For manufacturers, a rental scheme offers a way to trial products in real-world scenarios and gather data. This is particularly important for humanoids. "The technology is still not there. It's still immature," Wang said.

Some firms in China, the early leader in humanoids, have leased their creations to work in hotels as a training ground for future domestic use. Others offer them on cleaning service apps. Chinese firms have started offering rentals overseas through partner businesses. Shanghai's Agibot says its humanoids are available for rent in 17 countries, including the UK.

Wang suspects outright humanoid purchases will dominate in China, encouraged by government incentives. "There are a lot of humanoid robot orders from Chinese state-owned companies and a lot of orders driven by subsidies," he said.

Some companies may also prefer to buy robots outright for the prestige, to learn from the technology, or because it is better for their bottom line. For others, as robots become more sophisticated and the market grows, the convenience and affordability of a rental may be the answer.