Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motors Company will start commercializing robots in the new year. A quantum jump in the robot industry is expected with the joining of leading domestic manufacturers.
Samsung Electronics has decided to mass-produce wearable driving assistance robots around April. It is likely that the robot will be launched in the first half of the year. Samsung Electronics has been focusing on robot research and development (R&D) in recent years. This is their first attempt to mass produce robots.
The Samsung driving assistance robot is a service robot that is worn on the lower body and helps patients or the elderly who have difficulty walking to help them walk comfortably. It can also be used for industrial purposes, such as delivery drivers who often carry heavy loads.
The shipment price of Samsung wearable robots is estimated to be in the millions of KRW. The initial volume is tens of thousands of units, and the business will be expanded to the global market including Korea. Samsung recently promoted a robotics organization to a team.
Hyundai Motor Company is also focusing on the robotics business. Hyundai Motor Group acquired Boston Dynamics, an American robotics company, and expressed their will to strengthen their robotics business. Hyundai Motor Company will showcase various robot technologies at CES 2022 to be held in Las Vegas in January of the new year.
Among large domestic big corporates, LG Electronics, which is actively pioneering the service robot field, is also expected to introduce more diverse new robot products in the new year. LG Electronics is strengthening its business-to-business (B2B) robot business with the LG CLOi robot for hotel, hospital, and food and beverage (F&B) solution business. The lineup continued to increase, including CLOi Guidebot, Subbot, Chefbot, Baristabot, and Sterilization bot. LG Electronics is also expanding actual robot supply cases such as VIPS, Seoul National University Hospital, and airports.
As major domestic companies such as Samsung, Hyundai, and LG are rolling up their sleeves to commercialize the robot business, the domestic robot market is also expected to grow. The government also announced that they will expand the size of the domestic robot market to KRW 15 trillion by 2023 and promote the supply of various robots.
An official from the Korea Association of Robot Industry said, "It is a good sign that large companies are interested in the robot market and expand their business. Mutual growth is expected as large corporations have many business agreements with many small and medium-sized robot companies.”
By Staff Reporter So-ra Park (srpark@etnews.com)