For Midea’s acquisition, there are both voices in favor of expectations and some voices against it. So, what is the attitude of KUKA’s executives towards the cooperation between the two parties?
On July 7, in Shanghai, the 5th China International Robot Exhibition entered the second day. Stefan Lampa, CEO of KUKA Robotics Germany, appeared at the CEO roundtable co-organized by the International Federation of Robotics and the China Robot Industry Alliance. Before the meeting, Industry Toutiao interviewed Stefan Lampa about Midea’s acquisition of KUKA.
“What do you think of Midea’s acquisition? What key development strategies will both parties have after the acquisition is completed?”
Although he had just arrived in Shanghai from Germany, Lampa didn’t look very tired. Facing the reporter’s question, he was a little mysterious and said with a smile: “What is Midea’s strategy after acquiring KUKA? Actually, it would be more appropriate for you to ask Midea. However, we are optimistic that with Midea’s powerful cooperation Partners, our development in the Chinese market will undoubtedly accelerate!” There was a firmness in his tone.
Some people have previously pointed out that the combination of Midea and KUKA will not only vigorously expand China’s rapidly growing industrial Robot market and build an intelligent logistics system, but more importantly, it will lay out the future smart home appliances, that is, the service robot market. Compared with industrial robots, service robots have a larger market space.
However, in Lampa’s view, although the technologies of service robots and industrial robots are related, there is not much synergy between the two. “There are also two types of service robots, one is professional service robots, such as Lawn mowing robots, food delivery robots, etc.; the other type is more household robots, such as companion robots, educational robots, etc. The technical connection between professional service robots and industrial robots is closer, but household robots are closely related to There isn’t much synergy between industrial robots,” Lampa said.
As we all know, KUKA is a professional manufacturer of industrial robots, and seems to be unfamiliar with many home application scenarios; Midea is one of the leading household appliance companies in China, with a wide range of product lines ranging from air conditioners and refrigerators to rice cookers and microwave ovens. Many home application scenarios are very familiar, and to some extent, it can make up for the lack of KUKA in this regard. Therefore, from this level, the cooperation between the two parties does have a lot of room for imagination.
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