Chinese robotics firms are significantly increasing their global footprint, with Made-in-China intelligent service robots now being deployed worldwide in food delivery, manufacturing, healthcare, and smart homes.
Leading the global market in commercial service robots with a 23 percent market share is the Pudu Robotics, which saw its 100,000th robot roll off the production line on Tuesday. At its production base in Shenzhen City, a major tech hub in south China, the company prepares robots for international shipment.
Pudu's cat-shaped food-delivery robot has entered more than 60 countries and regions and gained a strong overseas customer base.
"For example, this batch of robots are ready to be transported from our finished-goods warehouse to customers in Japan and Europe. They're now being shipped to a port in Shanghai," said Guo Cong, CTO of Pudu Robotics.
In the first quarter of this year, the company's export orders surged by 300 percent year on year. Guo attributed the growth to rapid product iteration driven by customer-focused research and development.
"Our overseas markets account for 80 to 90 percent of our revenue, with Europe, Japan and South Korea being the largest. We drive product iterations with technology to meet diverse industry needs, creating a virtuous cycle of technology, products and sales. Additionally, we're customer-centric, identifying unique demands in target markets, which in turn spurs us to explore new technology. This approach helps us go global quickly and enhances our competitiveness," he said.
The evolution of robots is accelerating. Recently, Pudu released a service robot that is equipped with robotic arms and a dexterous hand that is capable of performing complex actions like pressing elevator buttons and serving dishes.
"It took four years for our first robot to go from design to mass production. Now, it takes around six months. This progress is due to better technology, improved manufacturing quality and faster production processes. The localization rate of the upstream supply chain has exceeded 95 percent, and we now hold over 1,600 patents," said the executive.
According to a white paper by Deloitte China and Pudu Robotics, the global service robot market is set to hit 195 billion U.S. dollars by 2035.
China's soaring commercial service robot industry leads global market
