Haier, one of China’s biggest home appliance makers, plans to take control of loss-making industrial robotics firm Step Electric as the country’s traditional manufacturers join a wave of companies piling into automated intelligence.
Advertisement
Haier will become Step Electric’s largest shareholder after taking a controlling stake in the company for about 2.5 billion yuan (US$343 million), according to a Shenzhen Stock Exchange filing on Monday. The deal is still subject to regulatory approvals, Step Electric said.
Founded in 1995, Step Electric started as a provider of elevator systems, before shifting its focus to industrial robotics, offering hardware and systems adopted by various industries from consumer electronics to automotive. It also invested in the development of robotics for the semiconductor industry, as well as embodied artificial intelligence for humanoid robots.
02:27
China’s Lunar New Year ‘AI temple fair’ combines tradition with innovation
China’s Lunar New Year ‘AI temple fair’ combines tradition with innovation
But Step Electric has struggled to make money in the past three years. It estimated losses in 2024 to hit 185 million yuan to 367 million yuan, versus 379 million yuan in 2023 and 1.1 billion yuan in 2022, its filings showed.
For Haier, the acquisition will allow it to go deeper into industrial robotics, underpinning China’s big push to deploy robots and automation systems to upgrade the nation’s manufacturing sector.
Beijing unveiled in late 2021 a five-year plan to develop its hi-tech industry, aiming to achieve 20 per cent growth in annual robotics sales and develop industry champions to double robot density by 2025. China has surpassed Germany and Japan in the adoption of industrial robotics, the International Federation of Robotics said in November.
Advertisement
China had 470 robots per 10,000 employees in 2023, up from 402 a year earlier. The country ranked third in robot-to-factory worker ratio in 2024 after South Korea and Singapore, according to the World Robotics report.