We were getting whispers of this five years ago. Some links below.
From Bloomberg via SwissInfo:
ABB Ltd. is accelerating expansion in China with a plan to double robot production capacity as it moves toward a goal to be the biggest provider of the industrial-automation equipment worldwide, said Chief Executive Officer Ulrich Spiesshofer.August 2012
The blueprint includes doubling the number of robotics research employees in China, where a close rival Kuka AG -- backed by Chinese appliances-maker Midea Group Co. -- is seeking to unseat ABB’s lead in the $11 billion industry in the nation. ABB also plans to seize on a growing industry in China for electric vehicles by supplying more charging facilities, Spiesshofer said.
The push is part of ABB’s broader ambition to surpass Fanuc Corp. as the top global provider in robotics and automation and also take the lead in e-mobility infrastructure in China, which this month unveiled a decision to phase out combustion-engine cars. The moves come as Spiesshofer prepares to wrap up a four-year restructuring plan under which ABB regrouped operations and resisted investor pressure to break up its businesses to better realize shareholder value.
“ABB is ahead of Kuka globally, we are ahead of Kuka here in the market and our ambition is to stay so,” Spiesshofer said in an interview in Shanghai Sept. 16. Zurich-based ABB also “absolutely” has the ability to be No. 1 in e-mobility infrastructure in China, the CEO said.
Spiesshofer, who said he met with the mayor of Shanghai to discuss the company’s plan to boost robot production, didn’t provide a timeline or figures for the increase in capacity and research employees. ABB currently employs more than 17,000 people in 139 Chinese cities.
China Automation
China is installing more robots than any other nation as its vast manufacturing industry increases automation to move up the value chain. The country added about 90,000 robots last year, a third of the global total, and this will rise to 160,000 in 2019, figures from the International Federation of Robotics show. The government wants domestic robot makers to have half of the market by 2020, according to Bloomberg Intelligence....MORE
Here's the Robot that Foxconn Will Use to Build Their Million-strong "Robot Kingdom" (ABB; AAPL)
November 2012
Foxconn Begins Installing First 10,000 Robots (AAPL)
These are simple robotic arms* not the anthropomorphized bots we mentioned in August's "Here's the Robot that Foxconn Will Use to Build Their Million-strong "Robot Kingdom" (ABB; AAPL)".
As speculated, Foxconn is building their own robots....
*Compare to the ABB FRIDA from our August post:
7-axis, dual arm, 720 degree 'wrist' spin, portable, and on and on:
That's it. No more work for me.
Images and video: ABB
October 2014
"Million Robot Revolution Delayed—iPhone Manufacturer Foxconn Hires More Humans"
“Hon Hai has a workforce of over one million worldwide and as human beings are also animals, to manage one million animals gives me a headache.”
- Foxconn CEO Terry Gou at an annual family day for staff at the Taipei Zoo.
Via the Financial Times
