Mar 06, 2018 / China
SoftBank Robotics Establishes Strategic Partnership with China’s Haier
Companies aim to develop and utilize service robots for Haier’s ‘Smart Home’ and ‘Smart Store’ solutions in China
SoftBank Robotics Group Corp. (“SBRG”) today announced a strategic partnership with Qingdao Haier Co., Ltd. (“Haier”) of China, the world’s No. 1 major appliances brand* of the Haier Group, with plans to cooperate on developing and utilizing service robots in China, including a special version of SBRG’s humanoid robot ‘Pepper’ for Haier’s ‘Smart Home’, a solution where household appliances interconnect through IoT. Both companies plan to develop a special version of Pepper that is compatible with ‘U+OS’, an operating system developed and provided by Haier, so Pepper can be utilized with Haier’s Smart Home and its ‘Smart Store’ retail store branch where service robots will be used to optimize purchasing experiences.
*Euromonitor International Limited; sales volumes based on 2017 data.
About Haier
Pepper introduction website (Chinese)