Original title: Softbank Corp.Robot business layoffs worldwide humanoid robot Pepper has stopped production source: Sina Technology
Softbank Corp. Group is scaling back its global robotics business, cutting jobs and halting production of the humanoid robot Pepper, according to people familiar with the matter today.The Pepper, the first humanoid robot touted to have a heart, stopped production last year, according to three people familiar with the matter. Two of the people familiar with the matter said that re-production of the Pepper is less likely because it would be very expensive to restart production.
The Pepper robot, manufactured by Foxconn, is designed to help fill the labor shortage. But demand for the Pepper is small, with only about 27000 units produced so far, according to people familiar with the matter.
According to industry insiders, Softbank Corp. 's move means that the company's CEO son (Masayoshi Son) 's plan to "make Softbank Corp. a leader in the robotics industry" is fading.
Just last week, HyundaiGroup, Boston Power and Softbank Corp. Group announced that Hyundai Group has completed the acquisition of Boston Power. After the deal was completed, Hyundai held 80 per cent of Boston Dynamics and Softbank Corp. retained the remaining 20 per cent through an affiliated company.
Boston Dynamics, a robotics company, was spun off from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1992 and was acquired by Google in 2013.Acquired and sold to Softbank Corp. in 2017. Analysts have previously said that the sale of Boston Dynamics means that Softbank Corp. 's ambitions in robotics are waning and makes his robot business, including Pepper, more and more isolated. Nowadays, Softbank Corp. is more and more focused on investment.
Softbank Corp. plans to cut about 50 per cent of its 330 employees in France in September as part of job cuts in its robotics division, according to four people familiar with the matter. These employees are mainly from Aldebaran, a French robotics company that Softbank Corp. bought in 2012.
Softbank Corp. 's robot sales business in the US and UK is small and has laid off half of its staff, according to three people familiar with the matter. In addition, Japan's robotics business staff have been redeployed.
In response, a spokesman for Softbank Corp. said that in France, negotiations on layoffs are under way and the final figure has not yet been determined. Workers in the US and UK have also been laid off and Japanese workers have been redeployed.