According to sources and papers reviewed by reporters, SoftBank Group Corp is in talks to sell the Paris-based robotics business behind the Pepper android to Germany’s United Robotics Group, pulling back a business it had regarded as a major growth driver.
The conversations are still ongoing, and plans may alter, according to two persons familiar with the situation who asked not to be identified because they are not allowed to speak to the media. It’s unclear whether SoftBank will keep a share in the company or how much the transaction will cost.
In October, United Robotics Group, sponsored by German industrial robot manufacturer Hahn, was named the European master distributor for SoftBank’s ailing Pepper and Nao robots.
United Robotics did not respond to a request for comment. SoftBank has stated that it will continue to invest in the Pepper Company.
In June, informed sources disclosed that SoftBank had halted manufacturing of Pepper and cut workers throughout its robotics division internationally. In France, where operations stretch back to the 2012 acquisition of start-up Aldebaran, which custom-designed Pepper for SoftBank, over half of the 330 staff positions were slashed.
According to sources and an examination of job ads, more employees have left due to low morale, leading SoftBank to offer openings to replace critical responsibilities.
According to its website, United Robotics has offices in Germany and Austria, the company has hired former SoftBank employees in sectors as sales.
According to sources, SoftBank has a dwindling stock of outdated Pepper units and components approaching obsolescence due to a culture rift between its European workers and Japanese bosses.
United Robotics sells robots including Sawyer, an industrial robot that can work with people, in addition to Pepper and Nao, a miniature humanoid robot.
Following the commercial failure of Pepper, SoftBank is concentrating on selling third-party devices.
The conglomerate has set up a parallel sales operation in the United Kingdom to reduce its dependency on the Paris-based company.
According to sources and papers examined by reporters, SoftBank engineers in France have been working on a secret project to build a serving robot named Plato.
Managers in Japan, on the other hand, have held off ordering the robot, according to the sources. At the same time, SoftBank has made deals to sell similar robots from outside companies, putting its own product’s commercial viability in jeopardy.
