Robotics Trends

Ugobe, Maker of Celebrated Pleo, Goes Broke As predicted by RoboticsTrends’ sister publication Robotics Business Review, Ugobe, Inc., manufacturer of the ultra-lifelike, ultra-expensive Pleo robotic toy dinosaur, has declared bankruptcy.  The company has laid off its staff and filed for liquidation of its assets under Chapter 7 of the bankruptcy code, according to a story this morning in the Idaho Statesman, the local paper that covers Eagle, Idaho, the hometown to which founder Caleb Chung returned the company last year after downsizing and closing the company’s Silicon Valley operations.  In its bankruptcy filing, Ugobe listed assets of $1.6 million, all but $100,000 of which was machinery in the Hong Kong factory where Pleo was manufactured, and debts of $3.6 million.  Robotics Business Review analyst Laura DiDio mapped out the short, intense celebrity of… View this post
Filed in: Personal Robotics • Latest News
Tagged: Robotics industry, Robotic toys, Financing, Bankruptcy, Retail

Korea Puts $750M in Robotics, Aims to Lead Market by 2018 The government of South Korea has promised to invest 1 trillion Won (about $750 million U.S. dollars) in the country’s robotics industry in an attempt to accelerate its growth. The goal is to help the global robotics market grow to more than $30 billion by 2013 and to help Korean companies take as much as 10 percent of that market, according to Huh Kyung, Director General for Emerging Industry in the government’s Ministry of Knowledge Economy, which is responsible for regulating and overseeing high-tech industries in South Korea. Robotics is one of the fastest-growing of Korea’s highly successful electronics and high-tech manufacturing sectors and will be one of the drivers of the country’s growth during the next five years, Korean officials said during the announcement. The… View this post
Filed in: Service Robotics • Feature • Latest News • Editor's Pick
Tagged: Service robotics, Financing, Korea, Economy, Government support