Rental Industry Shifts Gears Toward Robotics Business Expansion

Cuckoo Homesys and Coway to Discuss Expansion into Robotics at Shareholders' Meetings
Diversification of Products and Lower Price Barriers... Aiming for Early Market Leadership
Existing Infrastructure Could Catalyze the Popularization of Robots

The rental industry is accelerating its expansion into the robotics sector. By broadening their portfolios beyond existing rental businesses focused on environmental home appliances such as water purifiers and air purifiers, companies are seeking to secure the next generation of growth drivers.

According to industry sources on March 17, major rental companies have been sequentially adding agenda items related to robotics to their business purposes ahead of this month's regular general shareholders' meetings. Cuckoo Homesys plans to discuss adding the following items to its business objectives at the regular general shareholders' meeting to be held on March 26: providing robot solutions for the franchise and food & beverage industries, and offering services for the sale, distribution, installation, and maintenance (paid repair) of automated cooking robots.

Cuckoo Foodtech Serving Robot. Cuckoo Homesys

At last year's shareholders' meeting, Cuckoo Homesys also added the manufacturing and sale of serving robots, as well as manufacturing and sale of rice cooker robots, to its business purposes. Subsequently, in June of that year, the company unveiled its foodtech robot lineup—including automated frying robots—for the first time at 'Seoul Food 2025' held at Ilsan KINTEX. Going forward, Cuckoo Homesys plans to provide rental solutions that allow F&B B2B (business-to-business) operators to reduce labor costs amid an economic downturn.

At the regular general shareholders' meeting scheduled for March 31, Coway has also proposed agenda items to add robot manufacturing, sales, rental, and service businesses; manufacturing, sales, rental, and servicing of orthopedic and body correction devices; and manufacturing, sales, rental, and servicing of devices for pets to its business purposes. Coway explained that these are preemptive measures to secure future growth engines and keep avenues open for business expansion.

SK Intellix entered the lifestyle robot market last October by launching its wellness robot 'NamuHX.' This robot provides an 'air solution' function, autonomously navigating to areas with poor indoor air quality and purifying them, utilizing autonomous driving and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. SK Intellix aims to further develop this into an integrated platform by expanding into various wellness services such as security, beauty, meditation, and pet care.

Choi Seonghwan, President of Business at SK Networks, is introducing NamuHX, a wellness robot, at the 'NAMUHX Showcase' held last April at the Walkerhill Hotel & Resort in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul. SK Networks

The rental industry continues to broaden its base by incorporating new product categories as rental offerings, rather than remaining focused on specific product groups. For instance, Coway has expanded from water purifiers to massage chairs, while Bodyfriend has moved from massage chairs to water purifiers, intensifying competition as companies increasingly make cross-sector forays. Ryu Yeonju, Senior Analyst at Korea Ratings, diagnosed, "With large conglomerates such as Samsung Electronics entering the rental business in earnest and rental companies specializing in products like massage chairs and medical heating devices diversifying their offerings, competition in the domestic rental market is intensifying."

Recent moves by the rental industry into the robotics business are analyzed as being more about market expansion through product diversification rather than simply a response to market saturation. In particular, the adoption of the rental model is seen as a way to lower the barriers to entry for expensive robotic products, accelerating market penetration and enabling companies to secure an early lead. A representative from Cuckoo Homesys commented, "Robots still command high prices in both B2C (business-to-consumer) and B2B markets," adding, "It appears that the industry is increasingly interested in lowering entry barriers by offering robots as rental products."

The industry believes that the nationwide sales networks and on-site service infrastructure built up over the years will serve as advantages in the robotics business as well. An industry insider noted, "If the expertise of on-site service managers who have been responsible for installing, inspecting, and managing rental products is combined with the robot rental model, it could act as a catalyst for the popularization of robots."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.