In 2008,before the economic downturn,the global market for industry robot systems was estimated to be about US$19 billion. Industrial robot sold worldwide in 2009 slumped by about 50% compared to 2008. The sale started to improve from the third quarter of 2009 onward with the slow recovery coming from emerging markets in Asia and especially from China. In North America and Europe,sales were also seen slowly improving from late 2009.