Samsung Electronics launches robotics push as mainstay businesses falter

Samsung Electronics CEO and Device eXperience Division head Roh Tae-moon said at a press briefing on the sidelines of CES 2026 in Las Vegas in January that "robots are an important future growth engine for Samsung" and that the company was "reviewing investments in several related companies to strengthen competitiveness in the robotics business." [Samsung Electronics]

Samsung Electronics' decision to establish a new RX (Robotics eXperience) Business Promotion Office reporting directly to CEO Roh Tae-moon is seen as a move to accelerate the company's push into robotics — widely regarded as a shared future growth engine across industries — while quickly addressing a deepening slump in its finished-product businesses.

Samsung typically carries out its regular personnel reshuffles and organizational restructuring in late October, but moving the robotics-focused reorganization up by three months underscores the urgency. Analysts say the move reflects a growing sense that Samsung can no longer afford to fall behind as major domestic and international companies pour large amounts of capital and talent into robotics.

Roh to head new office concurrently; Future Robotics team, Samsung Research and production lab staff to converge

Samsung Electronics said Tuesday that Roh, who serves concurrently as president and head of the Device eXperience (DX) Division, will lead the newly launched RX Business Promotion Office as its inaugural head.

With Roh personally overseeing the new robotics unit, the company expects the entire process — from strategy formulation to execution — to move faster.

The move comes after Samsung drew unfavorable comparisons at CES 2026 in January, where Hyundai Motor and LG Electronics each showcased physical humanoid robots — the Atlas and the CLOi D, respectively — to demonstrate their future growth potential, while Samsung skipped any robotics-related exhibition.

Robotics personnel and teams previously scattered across different parts of Samsung Electronics are now being consolidated under the RX Business Promotion Office, with the company expecting to maximize synergies and generate results more quickly.

Samsung's Future Robotics Promotion Team — established following the acquisition of domestic humanoid robot company Rainbow Robotics in December 2024 — has been reorganized under the RX Business Promotion Office roughly a year and a half after its creation. Oh Jun-ho, a chair professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at KAIST who led the Future Robotics Promotion Team, will continue as its head, carrying on his role of transferring robotics development expertise to Samsung Electronics.

Robotics research staff from the Robot Center under Samsung Research and from the Production Technology Research Institute — which conducts advanced research into future manufacturing technologies for the DX Division — have also been brought together in one place. Analysts say the RX Business Promotion Office now concentrates Samsung Electronics' core robotics capabilities in a single organization.

At a press briefing at CES 2026 in January, Roh said the company's strategy was to "build on diverse data gathered from manufacturing sites to strengthen our capabilities, then develop them into B2B and B2C businesses," adding that "B2C, I believe, lies in the home robot space."

The remarks were interpreted as signaling Samsung's intent to enter not only the B2B market — supplying industrial robots to corporate customers — but also the B2C market, selling home robots directly to consumers.

Consumer electronics and mobile slump, widening gap with chip division — robotics seen as path to reversal

A quadruped robot from Rainbow Robotics on display at Samsung Electronics' annual general shareholders meeting in March 2025. Rainbow Robotics is a robot development company in which Samsung Electronics holds a 35 percent stake as its largest shareholder, following a strategic investment by Chairman Lee Jae-yong. [Samsung Electronics]

The new robotics business is seen as a key factor that could help lift the gloom hanging over Samsung Electronics' DX Division. The finished-product businesses, which had long been one of the pillars of Samsung Electronics' growth, have been struggling amid intensifying competition and the fallout from a sharp surge in memory chip prices.

In particular, analysts say the Mobile eXperience (MX) Division took a direct hit from the spike in memory chip prices and likely posted its first-ever operating loss in the second quarter of this year.

The Visual Display (VD) Division, which handles TVs, and the Digital Appliances (DA) Division, which covers home appliances, are also gradually ceding market share as Chinese rivals leverage price competitiveness and strong domestic demand.

While the Device Solutions (DS) Division, which oversees the semiconductor business, continues to post record-breaking earnings, the DX Division faces worsening profitability, and the widening performance gap and tensions between the two divisions have emerged as Samsung Electronics' most pressing concern.

The DX Division plans to use the newly established RX Business Promotion Office to offset weakness in its existing businesses through the new robotics venture.

At the annual general shareholders meeting in March, Roh said "the robotics business is one of the core areas that will lead future technological innovation and growth for the DX Division," adding that the company planned to "concentrate company-wide capabilities to bring robotics, AI and hand technology to the highest level globally."

A second robotics M&A on the horizon? Further talent recruitment also signaled

Lee Dong-geon, a vice president in Samsung Electronics' planning team, has been named head of the Robotics Strategy Team within the newly established RX Business Promotion Office. [Samsung Electronics]

Samsung Electronics plans to use the launch of the RX Business Promotion Office as a springboard for further acquisitions to accelerate the development of future technologies. The company is also reportedly reviewing cooperation with promising overseas startups that hold technology in the robotic hand space.

Samsung intends to raise its own competitiveness through synergies with Rainbow Robotics, which it has already acquired, while actively pursuing investments in or acquisitions of other companies with proven technology.

The immediate plan is to deploy Rainbow Robotics' robots at its own production facilities for a validation process, then use the experience gained there as a foundation to enter the industrial and home robot markets in earnest.

The company has also signaled further external talent recruitment. Lee Dong-geon, the vice president named as head of the Robotics Strategy Team within the new RX Business Promotion Office, is himself an outside hire who previously led robot strategy at Hyundai Motor Group, including the operational direction of Boston Dynamics. Lee joined Samsung Electronics in May.

Kwon Jeong-hyeon, head of the Robot Intelligence Team at Samsung Research, was recruited in 2023 after developing perception software for self-driving cars at Nvidia and was promoted to vice president in the year-end personnel reshuffle last year.

Kim Hyun-jin, a professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at Seoul National University recognized as a world-class scholar in intelligent autonomous robot systems and robot control, and Kim Eui-gyeom, a professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Ajou University whose research on robotic hands ranks among the best in the world, will also join the RX Business Promotion Office.

Samsung Electronics is focusing its efforts on developing dexterous robotic hands, widely considered the biggest challenge in commercializing humanoid robots. According to industry sources, dexterous hands account for 17 to 31 percent of humanoid component costs, reflecting the high technical barriers and cost burden involved.

Samsung is pursuing advances in hand technology through strategic partnerships with leading global hand technology companies. The company plans to accelerate development across intelligent manipulation technologies, including robotic hands, by bringing Professor Kim Eui-gyeom — regarded as one of the foremost experts in the field — into the Robotics Manipulation Development Team.

Samsung Electronics has been stepping up efforts to secure specialists in areas such as locomotion and whole-body control, manipulation, and robot foundation models through internal job postings and external mid-career recruitment.

joze@heraldcorp.com
jeongwan@heraldcorp.com