Elite Robot opens up - on par with Universal Robots in China?

The Chinese startup Elite Robot ends 2021 with an interesting video (see below). In the current year, the company has achieved a lot: A large financing round was completed(link). In addition, a production facility with an annual capacity of 5,000 cobots was put into operation, a subsidiary was opened in the USA and finally a new cobot series was introduced. As before, this is more reminiscent of Universal Robots models than the latest AI-based launches from German-Chinese startups Agile Robots or Neura Robotics. Elite Robots is also aimed more at classic industry/SMEs.

Market penetration

Elite Robot has so far been successful in Europe, especially in Portugal. In Germany, the cobots are co-distributed by the Schweiger Group. They are also active in Italy, among other places. I chose the headline because the following video is much more extensive than usual videos. Elite Robot provides transparency to be able to start in Europe. It is apparently looking for distribution partners. In 2021, according to the video, about 2,000 cobots were sold. Very roughly, I estimate that Universal Robots sold about 20,000 cobots this year. UR would thus be about 10 times more successful in terms of sales. (The difference in sales would be higher, as Elite Robots are significantly cheaper). However, the market leader Universal Robots achieves only about 25% of its sales in Asia, while Elite Robots sells primarily in Asia and here in China. Hence my conclusion that both manufacturers should be about equally successful in China. Of course, this speaks for the price/performance ratio of the robots.

The Eco system shown (from 14:30) includes many well-known accessory manufacturers (grippers/sensors etc.). My tip: Watch the video on a smart TV due to its length.

By the way, the days I had the honor and pleasure to be called by the CEO of a German-Chinese company. Interesting for me: Until the beginning of February there will be hardly any communication between the employees in Germany and China. First we have Christmas/New Year and then the New Year begins in China. During the summer vacations it will be similar. I.e. actually the globalized working year consists of only nine months.

Are we networking? LinkedIn
-> To the Cobot group on LinkedIn(Link)

On my own account/ Advertising
The author of this blog is significantly involved in the AI/ robotics project Boost-Bot. He advises robotics companies and investors on market (entry)/ business development and funding/subsidies. More about him can be found here.