In 2026, robot lawn mowers have finally become “good enough to consider,” according to Wired. TerraMow and Mammotion top the charts, with prices starting at €1,500 and climbing above €5,000. The market is dominated by Chinese and American companies. No European name, no Italian manufacturer. Demand is growing 25% annually, yet Europe imports nearly 90% of these devices.
The reality is that these machines are no longer toys. They pack LiDAR, GPS, AI, and collect detailed terrain data. They run autonomously, update via the cloud, and some require subscriptions. Perfect for medium-to-large gardens. But behind the “green” facade lies a political and industrial blind spot that we in Italy choose to ignore.
Why it matters. The robot lawn mower market is worth $1.5 billion globally. By 2030 it will triple. Every unit sold in Italy is a piece of technology over which we have no control: manufacturing, firmware, data, after-sales support. For an SME in landscape maintenance, buying a fleet of Chinese robots means becoming dependent on proprietary software and imported spare parts. If the manufacturer folds or changes its API, the robots become paperweights. Privacy is another issue: these devices map homes and gardens with centimeter accuracy. Data ends up on foreign servers, often without clear European governance. For Italian small businesses already struggling with bureaucracy and unfair competition, automation should be an ally. Instead it becomes a hidden long-term cost.
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Our position is clear: Europe has chosen to be a tech colony.
It's not a lack of talent: we have engineers, design heritage, mechanical tradition. But while China subsidises consumer robotics and the US leads with venture capital, Europe funds impact studies and committees. In Italy, a company that makes components for agricultural machinery could build a competitive robot mower. But it lacks the tools: certification bureaucracy, lack of open digital supply chains, fear of risk. The result is that a sector with enormous potential — green care in Italy is worth over €3 billion a year — is served by foreign manufacturers with margins above 40%. Our SMEs pay twice: once to buy, once to adapt to closed platforms.
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What to do. If you are an entrepreneur or developer, don’t settle for the ready-made product. Demand robots with open-source firmware, documented APIs, local repairability. Support Italian startups experimenting with modular robotics. And if you run a business managing gardens, calculate total cost of ownership: not just purchase, but subscriptions, spare parts, vendor lock-in. Real automation is the kind you can control. Everything else is a lifetime subscription.
