With the advancement of artificial intelligence (AI), 5G, and sensor technologies, the robotics industry is emerging as the next growth driver for the electronics sector. As global big tech companies like Tesla, Amazon, and SoftBank enter the market, Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics have also entered into full-scale competition.

According to global market research firm TrendForce on the 12th, the global robotics market is expected to grow to a size of $100 billion (approximately 133 trillion won) by 2028. In particular, the humanoid robot market is anticipated to experience explosive growth at an average annual rate of 154%, leading to continued active investment from global information technology (IT) companies.

In particular, Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, announced the launch of the "Cosmos" platform at the keynote speech at CES 2025 in the U.S. earlier last month. Cosmos is a simulation technology that helps robots learn in environments similar to the real world. It is expected to accelerate warehouse and factory automation, driving the growth of the robotics market.

In South Korea, Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics are presenting differentiated strategies, focusing on industrial and humanoid robots, and service and business-to-business (B2B) robots, respectively. Samsung Electronics is accelerating the development of humanoid robots in collaboration with Rainbow Robotics, while LG Electronics has integrated Bear Robotics as a subsidiary and is focusing on expanding the service robot market.

Samsung Electronics increased its stake in the domestic robotics company "Rainbow Robotics" from 14.7% to 35% last year, becoming the largest shareholder. The total investment amounts to 354.2 billion won.

Rainbow Robotics, established in 2011 by the KAIST "Hubo Lab" research team, is a robotics specialist company that developed Korea's first bipedal robot, "Hubo." Through this investment, Samsung Electronics aims to accelerate the development of intelligent humanoid robots.

To accelerate its robotics technology development, Samsung Electronics is undergoing organizational restructuring, which includes the establishment of a new Future Robotics Division, strengthening the robotics research team within Samsung Research, and expanding patent applications for autonomous driving and AI-based robots. These efforts are aimed at overseeing the entire scope of robotics technology development.

Samsung Electronics is pushing forward with research and development for robots to enable unmanned processes in semiconductor plants by 2030. Additionally, the company plans to introduce industrial robots into manufacturing and logistics automation systems, with a future goal of actively entering the humanoid robot market. In the first half of this year, Samsung will launch the AI-based butler robot "Bolly" and the wearable robot "Botfit."

Lee Jong-hee, Vice Chairman and CEO of Samsung Electronics, stated, "The humanoid robot plans will accelerate faster than expected." He added, "To move forward together, we have also established the Robotics Promotion Division and are proceeding step by step."

LG Electronics is strengthening its efforts in the autonomous driving robot market with a differentiated robot strategy. At the end of last month, LG Electronics acquired an additional 30% stake in the AI-based autonomous driving robot company "Bear Robotics" in Silicon Valley, bringing its total stake to 51% and making it a subsidiary.

Founded in 2017, Bear Robotics is an AI-based commercial autonomous robot company known for its expertise in swarm control technology, which moves multiple robots along optimized paths, as well as its cloud-based management solutions, which have earned global recognition for their technological capabilities.

Since 2017, LG Electronics has been entering the service robot market and currently supplies seven different types of "CLOi" robots. With the acquisition of Bear Robotics, the company plans to focus on the commercial robot market, including food and beverage (F&B) and logistics delivery, while maximizing synergy effects.

To achieve this, LG Electronics will integrate its commercial robot business, centered around "CLOi," with Bear Robotics. The company will retain Bear Robotics CEO Ha Jung-woo and other key executives to ensure continuity in the existing business, while also participating in the board of directors to drive the growth of the robot business and create synergies.

LG Electronics also plans to strengthen its business in both home and industrial robots. The home robot division will be overseen by the Home Appliance & Air Solution (HS) division, which is working on developing the "AI Home Robot" that seamlessly connects home appliances and services using AI.

CEO Jo Ju-wan of LG Electronics stated at the CES 2025 press conference, "Robots are a clear future," adding, "In addition to the F&B and logistics delivery robots we are currently focusing on, we are also preparing home robots, such as mobile AI home hubs."

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