Chinese AI start-up Megvii expands into hardware with robot for iPhone X assembler Foxconn
The company says the robot is being tested with Foxconn, while it is also working on other robots that can sort packages
Chinese facial recognition systems start-up Megvii, also known as Face++, is expanding its push into hardware with the development of a robot for contract manufacturer Foxconn’s iPhone assembly lines.
The robot, currently being tested, will enable the world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer to save a manual step in the manufacturing of the iPhone X, the most demanding smartphone model in terms of production, according to Megvii’s founder and CEO, Yin Qi.
“With new emerging technologies, we can address soft spots in industrial manufacturing one at a time,” Yin told a forum organised by the Chinese news outlet Caijing in Beijing on Wednesday.
He declined to give any details of the robot and what role it may have in the production of the iPhone X.
China is the biggest market for industrial robots, accounting for 30 per cent of the total supply last year, according to the International Federation of Robotics. Chinese robot suppliers’ global market share was 31 per cent in 2016.
“China is expected to manufacture more industrial robots and contribute 40 per cent of the output next year,” said Wang Tianmiao, professor of mechanical engineering and automation at Beihang University.
