"The Next Frontier Is Robots": Samsung Electronics Gathers in Umyeon-dong

Samsung Electronics has established a dedicated robotics unit directly under the CEO. The new organization is expected to serve as a control tower not only for Samsung Electronics' robotics business, but also for the group's broader robotics efforts at Samsung Electro-Mechanics, Samsung Display, and Samsung SDI. Samsung Electronics believes that competition to mass-produce humanoid robots is now intensifying, especially in the United States and China, and plans to accelerate work on mid- to long-term strategy, core technology development, data collection, and global talent recruitment.

Samsung Electronics announced on the 21st that it will create the Robotics eXperience (RX) Business Promotion Office directly under CEO Roh Tae-moon, who also heads the Device eXperience Division (DX Division). Roh will lead the office and oversee the company's robotics business.

Samsung Electronics is using its research and development campus in Seocho District, Seoul, as the base for the RX Business Promotion Office and is bringing together personnel working on robotics. In addition, it plans to build a data factory at its Gumi Plant, a smartphone production base, to advance robots using on-site data. The company also aims to tap local technology ecosystems through its research centers in the United States, China, and Japan, while recruiting top talent on a large scale.
Samsung Electronics had already been laying the groundwork for its robotics business by acquiring Rainbow Robotics in late 2024 and setting up the Future Robotics Task Force directly under the CEO. The launch of the RX Business Promotion Office is seen as a follow-up step to bring together robotics capabilities that had been scattered across the Future Robotics Task Force and R&D organizations, and to speed up commercialization.

The RX Business Promotion Office has brought together a large number of key robotics experts. Lee Dong-geon, vice president of Samsung Electronics' planning team, who previously led robotics strategy at Hyundai Motor Group, including the operating direction of Boston Dynamics, will head the Robotics Strategy Team and oversee the mid- to long-term business roadmap. Kim Hyun-jin, a globally recognized robotics scholar and professor at Seoul National University, and Kim Eui-gyeom, a leading expert in robotic hand technology and professor at Ajou University, are also expected to join the office. Samsung Electronics plans to further strengthen its lineup with executive-level specialists in robotics hardware, artificial intelligence, software, and other fields.
Samsung Electronics' future robotics commercialization strategy will focus on validating technologies in manufacturing sites before gradually expanding into the market. Roh previously said, "Samsung Electronics has a wide range of manufacturing sites, including semiconductors, smartphones, and home appliances, which gives it an advantage in securing diverse process data more than any other company." He added that Samsung Display, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, Samsung SDI, Samsung Heavy Industries, and Samsung E&A also operate manufacturing sites across displays, electronic components, batteries, shipbuilding, and plant construction, making the group a rich source of manufacturing robot data.
The company is also expected to accelerate mergers and acquisitions, technology investment, and talent recruitment in key areas such as robot AI hand technology and robot foundation models. Samsung Electronics plans to first deploy manufacturing humanoids on production lines to accumulate data, then evolve them into highly intelligent multipurpose humanoids. It also aims to expand industrial robot deployment across major factories worldwide before entering the home robot market.
[email protected] Jo Eun-hyo Reporter