Kuka / Huawei
China is eyeing German robot technology
The Chinese Huawei Group has signed a memorandum of understanding with Kuka at Cebit. The aim: to develop 'smart manufacturing solutions' for industrial markets in Europe and China.
The joint 'Signing Ceremony' in Hanover (from right to left): Yan Lida (President of Huawei Business Group), Ryan Ding (Executive Director and President of Products & Solutions of Huawei), Kevin Hu (CEO of Huawei Technologies Germany), Peter Mohnen (CFO of Kuka AG), Stefan Lampa (CEO of Kuka Roboter) and Bing Kong (CEO Kuka Roboter China).
© HuaweiHuawei is one of the world's largest providers of information technology and telecommunications solutions (ICT). With around 170,000 employees, the Chinese group generated sales of around 46.5 billion US dollars in 2014. At Cebit 2016, Ryan Ding, Executive Director and President of Products & Solutions at Huawei, announced a cooperation with Augsburg-based machine manufacturer Kuka. Specifically, the two companies want to work together in the areas of cloud computing, big data, mobile technologies and the development and programming of industrial robots for 'smart' production environments, particularly in the electronics sector. Topics such as the Internet of Things (IoT), wireless and 5G networks and Huawei's infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) solutions also play an important role in this context.
Peter Mohnen, CFO of Kuka, commented on the cooperation with Huawei as follows: "Digitalization and the implementation of Industry 4.0 are bringing fundamental changes to industrial production and require new products, solutions and concepts. The electronics industry in particular is faced with the challenge of an increasing number of new products, a faster pace of development and shorter product life cycles. We see great potential here for robot-assisted solutions".
Huawei is not the only Chinese company that is increasingly interested in robot technology 'made in Germany'. It was recently announced that the Chinese air conditioning and household appliance manufacturer Midea would like to increase its current 10.2% stake in Kuka and is pursuing "strategic goals" with this project. The largest Kuka shareholder is currently still the Swabian plant manufacturer Voith with a stake of around 25%. Midea initially acquired a 5% stake in Kuka in August last year and became the second-largest shareholder at the beginning of February - ahead of the Hessian entrepreneur Friedhelm Loh, who holds 10%.
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