Over 5,000 Robot Waiters Delight Korea's Restaurants, most of them made in China

How Chinese and South Korean robotic firms compete!

"Robot waiters from China have become popular with Korean restaurateurs dealing with a labor shortage.

Less enthused about the autonomous servers ... are South Korea’s local robotics companies. 

According to the report, restaurant owners are struggling to find staff as wages surge. And many customers say they prefer touchless service following the pandemic. ...
Seoul restaurateur Kwon Hyang-jin said in an interview ... “It never gets sick or complains about its workload.” ...

“We are worried that cheap Chinese robots are dominating our market as it is difficult to compete with them on prices,” said an executive at a top local distributor of domestic robots. “We’re trying to overcome our price weakness with higher-quality robots, but this is not easy.”

While 5,000 robot servers were in use at Korean restaurants last year, up 67% from 2021, 70% of them came from China. 

“Restaurant owners prefer Chinese robots because they are cheaper and their functions are just as good as Korean-made ones,” said an executive at the Korean Association of Robot Industry.

“Technology-wise, the Chinese are not behind us,” he added. “But they commercialized server robots earlier than we did and they are more cost competitive.” ..."

Robot Waiters Delight Korea's Restaurants but Not Its Robotics Firms