The mobile phone industry is witnessing a new dawn: Samsung has officially announced the launch of its smart robot this year, while Apple is reportedly delving into both humanoid and non-humanoid robots. vivo, too, has recently declared the establishment of its Robotics Lab, venturing into the realm of home robots with a lavish million-yuan annual salary on offer for talent.

What are these mobile phone giants aiming to achieve by converging on the robotics sector?

According to Bay Flow Economic Review, amidst technological disruptions and burgeoning demand, robots could very well become the future mobile phones. This self-evolutionary journey is intertwined with the fervor of technological innovation, revealing the warmer, more humane side of cold technology.

Companies that have made early strides in the robotics industry, especially in consumer robotics, enjoy a first-mover advantage. They not only catalyze a multiplier effect on technological innovation but also propel the advancement and upgrading of the entire industrial ecosystem.

01

Mobile Phones Enter the "Self-Evolution Era"

As mobile phone manufacturers compete over ultra-wide angles, 7000mAh batteries, and satellite communication technology, have we ever pondered what the future form of mobile phones will be?

One thing is almost certain: the future of mobile phones transcends mobile phones.

As early as 2018, Jony Ive, Apple's former chief designer, predicted that future interactions would reduce screen dependence, supplemented by more natural methods.

Though this visionary designer has since departed, his philosophy continues to deeply influence Apple: the launch of Apple Vision Pro, the plan to integrate cameras into AirPods and Apple Watch... diversifying and naturalizing interaction methods.

Great minds indeed think alike. At the Boao Forum for Asia on March 25, Hu Baishan, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of vivo, and Dean of vivo Central Research Institute, delivered a keynote titled "Technology as a Tool, Humanism as the Way," mentioning that "robots are the future of the mobile phone industry, bridging the physical and digital worlds." He further revealed vivo's Robotics Lab, focusing on nurturing robots' "brains" and "eyes," while targeting the consumer market to develop robots for personal and household use.

This viewpoint underscores two pivotal technological logics:

First, mobile phones are innovation hubs in the intelligent era, birthing mobile payment, smart government services, short videos, and live e-commerce, reshaping production and lifestyles. AI and robots represent the pinnacles of digital and physical world technological achievements, respectively, yet they remain relatively independent, unconnected.

So, can mobile phones, as powerful incubators for decades, achieve a seamless fusion of AI and robots?

Second, like robots, mobile phones bridge the physical and digital worlds. The mobile phone industry's deep accumulation in chips, sensors, communication technologies, AI algorithms, and operating systems is crucial for robot development. Meanwhile, robots offer more obvious advantages over mobile phones, expanding from information processing to physical interaction, achieving more natural human-computer interaction and broader applications.

In essence, this is a self-evolutionary process – mobile phones nurture robots, which then transform into robots themselves.

Looking back at industry trends, consumer robots are evolving from "functional tools" (like sweeping robots) to "emotional companions" (like elderly care robots). vivo's timely entry can significantly reduce market development and technology research trial-and-error costs, avoid innovative exploration failure risks, and swiftly capture the next-generation human-computer interaction entry point.

Simultaneously, market demand is pressing. Global aging is accelerating, particularly in China. It's estimated that the population aged 60 and above will surpass 300 million during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, accounting for over 20% of the total population, entering a moderate aging stage. By 2035, the population aged 60 and above will exceed 400 million, accounting for over 30% of the total population, entering a severe aging stage. Consequently, with a declining workforce, the demand for robots in nursing, medical care, and household services will soar.

Moreover, policy support, like a favorable wind, is bound to drive significant industry development. Recently, the General Offices of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council issued the "Special Action Plan to Boost Consumption," specifically promoting "AI + consumption" and accelerating the development and application of new technological products like robots, opening up new high-growth consumption avenues.

Market demand and policy support are aligned, and technological logic and industry trends are matched. The consumer robotics sector is poised for takeoff.

02

vivo Gradually Breaks Through and "Lays Eggs Along the Way"

The question arises: although mobile phones and robots share core technologies, vivo is still an outsider compared to seasoned robotics enterprises. How to break the deadlock?

For instance, dexterous hands pose a significant challenge. Robot hands are far from achieving the 23 degrees of freedom of human hands. Moreover, technical success is just the beginning; profitability is crucial. Boston Dynamics, once an industry pioneer, exemplifies consecutive years of losses.

In response, vivo has decided to change tactics:

First, focus on two core advantages and foster an open, win-win industrial ecosystem. Hu Baishan stated that "vivo will concentrate on the robot's 'brain' and 'eyes' through AI and imaging technology," leaving robotic arm and dexterous hand manufacturing to more professional partners. This aligns with vivo's mobile phone industry strategy, fostering a robust industrial ecosystem through win-win cooperation.

A crucial task for vivo's Robotics Lab is training AI agents' capabilities, the future robots' brains. vivo's Blue Mind large model matrix encompasses multiple large models, including language, speech, and multimodal. With robot carriers, vivo can deploy 10 billion or even 100 billion parameter-level large models, breaking the current 1 billion parameter mobile phone bottleneck.

The "eyes'" core lies in building spatial recognition and understanding capabilities. vivo excels in portrait, telephoto, and LCD scenarios. Simultaneously, vivo will develop a leading visual perception system, enhancing robots' visual intelligence through improved visual capture, processing, understanding, spatial perception, environmental modeling, and visual edge computing.

In terms of investment, vivo has always been generous. In March 2018, vivo established its AI Global Research Institute, now gathering over 1,000 AI talents. The MR team has expanded to 500 people. Moreover, since 2019, vivo's annual R&D investment has been at the 10 billion yuan level.

Recently, vivo recruited robotics talents, offering a million-yuan annual salary.

Due to its continuous "sowing," vivo now confidently enters the home robotics industry. An estimated 68% of vivo's AI algorithms and 79% of its sensor technologies can be reused, significantly shortening the robot R&D cycle, reducing costs, and maintaining key performance indicator advantages.

Second, adhere to one's duties and focus on tracks more valuable to users.

vivo has always adhered to the "duty" culture, prioritizing "user-oriented innovation" over trends or profits. In other words, vivo's robot products will be determined by its core competencies and user value creation. Therefore, vivo leverages its strengths, focuses on home robots, and clearly identifies hospitals and elderly care as key robot application directions, assisting those in need and shouldering a technology company's social responsibility.

This reflects vivo's long-standing humanistic approach, prioritizing user concerns and regarding humanistic technology as its greatest differentiator. On smartphones, vivo extends AI technology to visual, auditory, and linguistic levels, enabling individuals with hearing and visual impairments to better integrate into society through "vivo Hear" and "vivo See".

Third, gradually break through and "lay eggs along the way." Household robot commercialization is not overnight. vivo Vision (MR product), currently displayed at the Boao Forum, is a phased achievement, expected to launch mid-year. In the next three to five years, vivo will focus on creating prototype machines with a closed-loop experience, achieving its strategic goals step-by-step.

03

The Golden Decade of Household Robots

From an industry perspective, robots will become AIoT's (Artificial Intelligence of Things) core nodes, connecting smart homes, wearable devices, and cloud services into an "everything can interact" ecological network. vivo's layout and promotion of the "robot-mobile phone-MR" closed-loop feedback mechanism demonstrate its trend understanding and active participation.

How can this "closed-loop feedback mechanism" be understood? Simply put, robot AI Agent technological accumulation can be fed back to mobile phones, aiding terminal AI iterative upgrades. Similarly, vivo has ranked first in China's domestic mobile phone market share for four consecutive years, serving over 500 million users in over 60 countries and regions. These processed data can also optimize robots and MR devices.

IDC predicts the global robot market will exceed $235 billion by 2025. If vivo can launch household robot prototypes and validate business models in the next couple of years, it will swiftly capture this multi-billion-dollar blue ocean market.

However, focusing solely on "money" is insufficient. Hu Baishan emphasized that vivo's entry is not just for commercial interests but also to address aging society structural challenges. Care robots can reduce medical staff workloads, education robots can compensate for teacher shortages in remote areas... Technological inclusion also measures a company's competitiveness.

Although the road ahead is challenging, as Hu Baishan noted, "A technology company's responsibility is to continuously solve future social problems through science, technology, and innovation." Perhaps a decade from now, when we look back, vivo's Robotics Lab will be the genesis of these transformative changes.

References:

The Beijing News: vivo's robotic "ambition": driven by the "brain + eyes" dual wheels, aiming to enter thousands of households

Wall Street CN: Track Hyper | vivo establishes Robotics Lab: targeting home scenarios

Digital Wisdom Frontline: Offering a million-yuan annual salary to recruit talents, why is vivo betting on home robots?

Business and Life: Announcing its robot plan, vivo embarks on a new journey