Samsung shares gain after company creates robotics business office

Samsung Electronics shares rose 6.76% on Tuesday after the company said it had formed a dedicated robotics organisation, adding another marker to its effort to find growth beyond its established electronics and semiconductor businesses. South Korea’s benchmark Kospi index was up about 4%.

The company said the new RX, or Robotics eXperience, Business Office will bring together Samsung’s robotics capabilities and support a mid- to long-term plan covering core technology development through to commercialisation. Samsung said Chief Executive TM Roh will directly oversee the newly created unit.

The move places robotics more visibly inside Samsung’s corporate structure at a time when large technology manufacturers are linking artificial intelligence investment with machines that operate in the physical world. In Samsung’s case, the company has tied that agenda to physical AI infrastructure and humanoid robot manufacturing facilities, according to comments and plans disclosed by the group.

Robotics becomes a dedicated growth area

Samsung said the RX office is intended to strengthen its robotics capabilities by consolidating work that had previously sat across the group. A dedicated business office can give a large manufacturer a clearer chain of responsibility for technology development, production planning and eventual sales, although Samsung did not disclose revenue targets or product timelines for the unit.

The company also said the new organisation will seek to establish research bases in the U.S., China and Japan. Those markets are important centres for advanced manufacturing, automation and robotics research, though Samsung did not provide details on staffing, locations or investment amounts for the planned bases.

Roh’s direct oversight signals that the robotics programme will sit close to the top of Samsung’s management structure. Roh, who was named in Samsung’s statement as the executive responsible for the unit, is already one of the group’s most prominent leaders.

Investment plans in South Korea

The robotics announcement follows Samsung’s broader investment plans in South Korea. Earlier this month, Roh said at a public briefing in Jinju that Samsung Electronics plans to invest about 60 trillion won, equivalent to $40.7 billion, in the Yeongnam region, which includes the company’s Gumi site.

Of that amount, 19 trillion won will be allocated to Gumi in partnership with Samsung SDS, according to the company’s previously disclosed plans. The funds are designated for physical AI infrastructure and facilities for manufacturing humanoid robots.

Samsung’s positioning in robotics also builds on a prior equity move. In late 2024, the company increased its holding in Rainbow Robotics, a South Korean robotics company, making Samsung the largest shareholder, according to Samsung’s announcement at the time.

The share-price move on Tuesday suggests investors treated the new business office as a further step in Samsung’s robotics strategy. The company did not announce financial guidance for the RX office, nor did it specify when robotics products developed under the new structure may reach commercial markets.

This story draws on original reporting from CNBC.