According to Reuters, SoftBank Robotics stopped production of its Pepper humanoid robot last year. At the same time, the company does not plan to resume production, since the project turned out to be too expensive.
The decision came after Pepper tried unsuccessfully to gain attention in the global market, but ultimately only 27,000 robots have been produced since its inception in 2014.
In addition, SoftBank Robotics plans to lay off some of its employees. More specifically, half of the employees have already been laid off in the US and UK, and another half of the remaining 330 employees in France will also be laid off in the next couple of months.
SoftBank has turned its attention to the new Whiz robot, released in 2019. It is a robot cleaner that can sweep and work like a vacuum cleaner.
SoftBank retains access to robotics and automation technology by owning SB Logistics and stakes in robotics firm Berkshire Gray and warehouse robotics firm AutoStore.
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