Samsung Electronics Unconditionally Approved by Fair Trade Commission for Acquisition of Rainbow Robotics

"No Restrictions on Market Competition"

Yonhap News

The Fair Trade Commission unconditionally approved Samsung Electronics' acquisition of Rainbow Robotics, the first domestic bipedal robot developer.

On the 5th, the Fair Trade Commission stated, "As a result of the corporate merger review, we judged that concerns about market competition restrictions are minimal and approve the corporate merger."

In January, Samsung Electronics acquired an additional 20.29% of Rainbow Robotics shares, in which it already held 14.71%, securing a 35.0% stake as the largest shareholder, and reported the corporate merger to the Fair Trade Commission in the same month.

This corporate merger involves Samsung Electronics acquiring Rainbow Robotics, which has various robot development experiences and robot technology capabilities, including the development of the first domestic bipedal humanoid robot, to operate its future robot business.

Rainbow Robotics is a business engaged in manufacturing industrial robots used in the manufacturing sector, while Samsung Electronics is a semiconductor company mainly producing memory semiconductors such as DRAM and NAND flash. Samsung SDI, a Samsung Electronics affiliate, produces small secondary batteries used in robots requiring mobility.

The Fair Trade Commission stated, "Even if Samsung Electronics or Samsung SDI stops supplying or raises the supply price of DRAM, NAND flash, or small secondary batteries to competing robot companies of Rainbow Robotics, these competitors can purchase substitutes from companies other than Samsung Electronics and Samsung SDI, so the effect of blocking purchasing sources is minimal."

Since there are strong competing semiconductor companies other than Samsung Electronics that have similar products for DRAM and NAND flash, competing robot companies can easily purchase substitutes. In the case of small secondary batteries, Samsung SDI's market share is only 15.83%, so it is considered possible to sufficiently switch to products from other companies.

Furthermore, DRAM and NAND flash are not considered essential parts for robot manufacturing, and to continuously create demand for semiconductors and secondary batteries, it is necessary to maintain business relationships with as many companies as possible in the cutting-edge industrial robot market, which lowers the incentive for blocking.

The Fair Trade Commission also judged, "Even if Rainbow Robotics does not purchase DRAM, NAND flash, or small secondary batteries from companies other than Samsung Electronics and Samsung SDI, companies other than Samsung Electronics and Samsung SDI can sell to companies other than Rainbow Robotics, so the effect of blocking sales channels is also minimal."

Samsung Electronics' global market share for DRAM and NAND flash (based on 2023 sales) is 42.2% and 33.4%, respectively. During the same period, Rainbow Robotics' share of the global industrial robot market was 0.07% (0.47% domestically).

The Fair Trade Commission added that this corporate merger is significant in that it was swiftly processed by focusing on corporate mergers that enhance corporate innovation and industrial competitiveness while having low concerns about competition restrictions.