Chinese media outlet Guancha.cn published an article on the 27th by a reporter from South Korean ETNews titled 'How will South Korea confront China's robot industry, which is showing fierce momentum?'

The article first stated, 'Competition in China's robot industry is expanding from a simple technological competition to a capital competition,' referring to the listing of Unitree Robotics and subsequent developments. It noted that they 'are raising large amounts of capital to invest in mass production, artificial intelligence (AI), and core components,' and conveyed that several South Korean robot company officials expressed, 'Technological prowess alone is insufficient to compete with China.'

The article also stated, 'China is promoting the development of the robot industry at a national level,' and pointed out, 'In South Korea, many robot companies must endure long research and development periods and the investment pressure required for mass production until they achieve a certain level of sales. This is especially true in the humanoid robot sector.' While acknowledging, 'The South Korean government has also recently launched several R&D projects in the fields of robotics and physical AI. For companies desperately needing early R&D funding, this is truly a 'godsend,'' it also argued, 'Developing prototypes and verifying technology through government projects is a different matter from fostering that technology into a sustainable business.'

It stated that if businesses expand and enter the mass production phase, companies will need to invest even more capital, equipment, and production experience.

The article further emphasized, 'Actual application verification environments are also important,' and suggested, 'Humanoid robots must be verified for their ability to perform tasks repeatedly, stably, and continuously in manufacturing and logistics sites, but it is difficult for a single company to obtain large-scale verification facilities and sufficient data alone. There is a need to establish platforms that multiple companies can use collaboratively.'

It also pointed out, 'Government support, in addition to scale, must also be continuous and specialized,' and 'The ability to support companies' entry into overseas markets also needs to be further strengthened.' Regarding the former, it argued, 'The institutions responsible for support must fully understand the robot industry and related technologies, and possess the ability to judge which areas resources should be strategically invested in.'

According to the article, because South Korea has mature automotive and home appliance industries, it is believed to have relatively strong competitiveness in components for robot drive systems such as motors and reducers. However, sensors like LiDAR and 3D cameras still have a high dependence on overseas sources, and the localization of batteries, motors, and reducers alone will not give the entire robot supply chain complete competitiveness.

In addition, the talent issue is also serious, with many robot companies concentrating personnel in R&D, mass production, and manufacturing, leading to a shortage of specialized talent in areas such as AI, software, overseas business, and certification.

The article pointed out, 'The current competition surrounding humanoid robots is no longer about competing to 'create robots with superior performance,'' but rather, 'the capital market, continuous government support, demonstration and verification infrastructure, international trade responsiveness, specialized talent, and upstream related industries covering sensors and core components all need to develop in coordination.' Furthermore, it stated, 'When South Korean robots compete with China, it is difficult to rely solely on the technological capabilities of individual companies,' and concluded, 'Ultimately, what will determine victory or defeat is whether South Korea can jointly build a sufficiently robust robot industry ecosystem.' (Translation/Editing by Noya)