A few days ago, the robot “crazy devil” Softbank started a new action again.

This time, Softbank focused on public health. In April, Softbank announced that it would strategically inject capital into kaiyao environment. After the transaction is completed, Softbank robot will own about 5% equity of kaiyao disinfection business. 2020 is a key watershed for robots to land from the level of science and technology to real life. Contactless service has dramatically changed the world and the luck of some industries.

Robots are a clear example. Disinfection, logistics, cooperation… The plot of mecha soldiers guarding the earth breaks through the dimensional wall in turn. Looking back at the enterprise side, the number of service robot related enterprises in China alone soared 78.92% to 105000 in last year, raising 113 cases, with a total financing amount of more than 44 billion yuan. In recent years, the robot empire of Softbank has been cracked frequently, and the famous pepper was once discontinued.

Today, the wind blows again. However, compared with the past, a large number of intelligent commercial robots have been overcrowded. In 2021, the global sales of service robots reached US $14.6 billion, with an annual growth rate of 32.2%, creating a peak growth rate since 2016.

The teacher was killed with random fists, and Softbank was a little anxious.

Son Zhengyi’s “Astro Boy” has not yet been born

Softbank has made two great achievements in the field of robotics. One is that pepper officially began to sell to the market in 2015. This robot, known as the “emotion engine”, once placed sun Zhengyi’s good expectations for astro boy. As a child, because of a cartoon, the robot dream took root in sun Zhengyi’s heart.

The second is that in 2017, Softbank took Boston power revenue with us $921 million. However, in the eyes of outsiders, these two big moves that are enough to look down on the robot circle have not perfectly hatched son Zhengyi’s astro boy. From the perspective of commercialization, it can even be said that they have failed.

It’s an indisputable fact whether pepper won a seat or not. It is reported that since its launch around 2015, only 27000 units have been produced. Due to the lower sales price than the cost price, Softbank robot once lost as much as $1 billion. At the end of March 2017, the company was almost insolvent.

At present, there are rumors that pepper has stopped production. What is more surprising is that Softbank plans to lay off half of its robot company’s employees in France. Boston power is more like a vase that is useless. The most famous quadruped robot “spot” has only sold about 400 units by the end of 2020. Finally, Softbank resold it to Hyundai Motor.

Why is the commercialization journey of pepper and spot so difficult?

Frankly speaking, due to the scarcity of labor force and the serious aging of society, the application fields of robots in Japan are very broad, and new service models have been born in the industries of finance, tourism, medical care and so on. Taking medical care as an example, according to the data of the Ministry of health, labor and welfare, the supply and demand gap of nursing staff in Japan will be about 380000 in 2025. The Japanese robot market is expected to be US $49 billion in 2025 and US $91 billion in 2035.

This is the crux of sun Zhengyi’s failure to succeed in the seemingly huge market. In fact, looking at the world, the penetration rate of robots is insignificant. The report of Morgan Stanley shows that at present, the penetration rate of robots in the world is only 0.9%, and the proportion of robots in the labor market is about 1%. By 2040, the penetration rate of robots may reach 7% - 18%.

Limited to the domestic market, Softbank is difficult to find a global customer base for a time. On the other hand, the emotional engine emphasized by pepper may not cause the carnival of artificial intelligence. Although the ethical boundary between carbon based organisms and silicon-based organisms is somewhat groundless, it is always a little sensitive when it comes to business.

It is reported that the robot products sold by Softbank to enterprises have basically turned off emotional ability. It is worth noting that as early as 1999, Sony launched a family companion robot dog Aibo with a concept similar to pepper, but for seven years, Aibo has only sold 150000 units worldwide, and the outcome is the same as pepper.

As for Boston power, it is expected that a robot with a price of nearly 500000 yuan will fall into cold silence in the current market. The research and development of bionic robot is a punk dream that science and technology fans can’t give up, but for capital, the investment and income that are not proportional are doomed to fail to pay for this ultimate game frequently.

From 2015 to now, seven years have been wrongly paid. However, son Zhengyi still did not give up his astro boy. According to public data, Softbank currently invests in about 300 artificial intelligence related Unicorn enterprises, including 18 directly related to robots. Although Boston power was sold to Hyundai, Softbank still retains 20% of its shares.

Son Zhengyi’s astro boy has not yet been born, but it is clear that Softbank has no intention of giving up.

Softbank is still waiting for a “Scene”?

There is no doubt that sun Zhengyi is still waiting for an opportunity for Astro boys to show up. However, when and where can the robot land become a universal reality, not only son Zhengyi, but countless people are guessing and waiting. According to a survey published in the journal scientific robotics, there will be an increased risk of automation for 1000 jobs in the future.

McKinsey’s report also shows that the early application of automation will make 220 million workers need to change jobs and replace 516 billion working hours. In the past two years, various industries such as medical treatment, logistics, warehousing and education have outlined capital’s looking up to the robot industry. Although no head brand has been born to provide samples for the whole industry, it is obvious that capital does not want to continue turtle diving, and this road will go on after all.

Today’s Softbank, re creating the robot Empire, is somewhat headless and disorderly. It has always been son Zhengyi’s most eye-catching label in the field of investment. Whether he can hear the echo when the money is spread out is the last word. Where will the robot’s application scenario erupt? Until there is a clear answer, it seems that we can only look at luck.

In addition to public health care, Softbank also vigorously attacked intelligent service fields such as warehousing and education. Over the past decade, the logistics and e-commerce industry has strongly nurtured warehousing automation. In April last year, Bosch was sold