Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) and Japan’s Softbank Corp are planning to set up a joint venture to produce robots, Japan’s Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported yesterday.
Foxconn, also known as Hon Hai Group (鴻海集團), and Softbank have agreed on the joint venture deal, which is scheduled to launch production by the end of this year, with an annual capacity of 10,000 units, the report said.
STILL IN TALKS
Foxconn and Softbank are still in talks to hammer out more details, such as the paid-in capital of the new company and the stakes the two partners are set to take in it, it added.
Hon Hai yesterday declined to comment on the report.
The newspaper said that SoftBank and Foxconn have been working with each other since June last year, when the Japanese firm unveiled Pepper, a robot developed by Aldebaran Robotics SA, a SoftBank subsidiary in France, and built by Foxconn.
The newspaper cited unnamed sources as saying that the new company would first focus on mass producing and marketing Pepper.
Several enterprises in Japan have used or are planning to use Pepper, the report said. Among them, Nestle Japan Ltd uses Pepper to sell its coffee machines, it added.
According to the report, Pepper is expected to hit the general public market this summer, priced at ￥198,000 (US$1,597).
The newspaper said that Foxconn chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘) plans to cooperate with China’s Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (阿里巴巴) to sell Pepper robots worldwide.
Separately, the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday said that Foxconn and Alibaba are planning to spend US$500 million to take a 10 percent stake in Indian e-commerce firm Snapdeal.com, and that the deal is pending regulatory approval from India.
Snapdeal has been operational for five years, selling a wide range of products, such as handsets, cars and even homes.
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