Robotics stocks surge on Samsung’s new team

Shares of robotics tech firms surged Monday following news reports that Samsung Electronics is setting up a new team solely dedicated to the robotics business, one of the frequently-cited new growth engines for the Korean tech giant.

Yujin Robot, one of the first-generation robotics companies here with more than 30 years of history, saw a 30 percent jump in its stock price and was trading at 4,150 won ($3.52) as of 2 p.m., as investors cheered for its business potential with Samsung, the nation's largest tech company, jumping into the bandwagon.

Other stocks, including Robotis, Hyulim Robot, Robostar, also soared almost 20 percent compared to Friday’s closing prices.

Samsung, which recently revamped its operational structure under a new leadership, reportedly set up a new robotics business team that is seen to be succeeding an existing task force launched last year.

A Samsung official declined to further elaborate on the details of the new team but said the company has continued a feasibility study to assess the business potential of its robotics technologies.

Samsung has showed off a series of prototype robots at recent trade shows, including the Bot Handy, a house-keeping robot that can pick up laundry, load the dishwasher and set the table, during CES in 2019.

At the time, Samsung didn’t announce a release date or price, alluding that the artificial intelligence-based futuristic robots were more of a concept than a real product. 

Sources say another batch of robots are also highly likely to be unveiled during the upcoming CES in early January.

Despite Samsung keeping mum over the mass market debut of their robot concept, expectations are already running high for the company’s renewed robotics push that would have a huge impact across industries.

Keen attention is also being paid to robotics companies around the world amid speculations that Samsung could seek acquisitions to take an earlier edge in the nascent field.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)