EU watchdogs muck up Amazon’s messy iRobot cleanup 28 Nov 2023 The European Commission says the e-commerce giant’s $1.4 bln takeover of the Roomba maker could shut out robot-vacuum rivals. Trustbusters are mainly concerned about Amazon’s market clout. Yet if the deal collapses, iRobot shareholders will suffer more downward suction.
Capital Calls: Chanel’s CEO pick 14 Dec 2021 Concise views on global finance: The privately-owned French fashion house appointed a Unilever executive as its new leader.
Nordic retail robot IPO carries steep price tag 29 Sep 2021 AutoStore, the SoftBank-backed firm that sells automated warehouses, is listing in Oslo for up to $15 billion. It’s a bet on the boom in online shopping and grocery delivery. Yet the rich valuation relies on breakneck growth in a competitive market and downplays legal risks.
ABB offers lesson in virtue of simplicity 26 Jul 2021 The $75 bln Swiss industrials giant is selling a power transmission unit to RBC Bearings for $2.9 bln. The rich price vindicates CEO Bjorn Rosengren’s plan to slim down and focus on electrification and robots. That will likely cement a premium valuation versus rival Siemens.
Capital Calls: Genetic gold rush 28 Jun 2021 Concise views on global finance: A company has shown biotechnology called CRISPR can precisely edit defective genes in humans, fueling investment and squabbles.
Capital Calls: Bling deal 6 Apr 2021 Concise views on global finance in the Covid-19 era: Signet, the owner of jewelers Zales and Kay, is buying rental firm Rocksbox.
Robo-taxis’ earnings horsepower 3 Mar 2020 General Motors reckons autonomous cabs can be a $1 trln market in the United States alone. That requires some heady assumptions about how cheap running such a service can be, and how many people can be persuaded to ditch car ownership for robo-rides.
Robo-taxi payday is a marathon self-drive away 3 Mar 2020 The prospect of mass adoption of autonomous cars has won Alphabet unit Waymo outside investors, helped boost Tesla’s stock and has GM positing a $5 trln global market. Robo-taxis could be big money-spinners. But aligning tech, costs, regulation and user readiness will take years.
The Exchange: Hollowing out white-collar jobs 13 Feb 2019 In “The Globotics Upheaval” Richard Baldwin predicts machine learning and instant communications will disrupt service workers just as automation and offshoring upended Western factories. He tells Breakingviews what’s coming, and what we can do to slow it down.
U.S. factories add jobs but could use more robots 2 Feb 2018 The economy added 200,000 jobs last month, including 15,000 in manufacturing. Donald Trump often talks of boosting the now smallish sector, but productivity has been near-stagnant and wage growth is weak. For all the fears of machines taking jobs, having more of them would help.
Globalization backlash misses real danger: robots 20 Dec 2016 Voters are rewarding nativist politicians. But campaign promises to bring back manufacturing jobs will fail to deliver. That's because the bogeyman is automation, not open borders. Fighting past wars will render governments flat-footed in tackling current challenges.
Asia’s upstart robo-advisers face self-destruction 18 Nov 2016 Automated investment apps are popping up in the region; tech giants like Alibaba are eying the market too. Low fees make it hard to succeed without deep pockets or a large user base. If the U.S. experience is any precedent, small players are destined for the digital scrap yard.
Keeping Kuka German may require going French 1 Jun 2016 Economic minister Sigmar Gabriel is trying to forge a counterbid for the robot maker. Yet Chinese Midea’s $5 bln offer is already frothy. Berlin would have to turn to industrial politics à la française, and maybe even take a direct stake. Better to let markets run their course.