Alibaba and Foxconn to invest in SoftBank’s robotics business
Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba and Foxconn have announced that they will each invest JPY 14.5 billion in SoftBank’s robotics business. Under the terms of the agreement, SoftBank will keep a 60% stake in its robotics subsidiary while Alibaba and Foxconn will each hold 20%.
SoftBank’s most widely-publicized robotics project to date has been “Pepper”, the household helper which went on sale last year (and which was manufactured by Foxconn). However, it appears that future plans will be much more ambitious, with business applications well to the fore.
Jack Ma, Alibaba Group Founder and Executive Chairman, emphasized that the expansive nature of the new project: “As we enter the data technology era, robotics will become a critical field that catalyzes technological breakthroughs in numerous sectors such as healthcare, public services, research and at home.”
Terry Gou, Founder and CEO of Foxconn Technology Group, also talked up the business applications: “Foxconn is pleased to be partnering with SoftBank and Alibaba as part of our effort to drive the advancement of robotics engineering. This is a strategic area of focus for our company as we continue to advance our capabilities in intelligent manufacturing and realize our Industry 4.0 vision.”
As reported by Post&Parcel last week, UK-based online grocer Ocado is now leading a five-year project to build an “autonomous humanoid robot” that will play a “collaborative role” with staff working in distribution centres.
Given Alibaba’s position as China’s biggest e-commerce player, it seems likely that the SoftBank robotics business will also be looking to see if its creations can be set to work in the logistics and distribution sectors.
