Winning The Humanoids Market
Success in the humanoid robots market is not merely about technical prowess, but about scaling fast, ratcheting up market share, and bolstering pricing power—all made possible through strategic business model innovations.
Engineering breakthroughs often dominate the headlines, yet the real challenge is capturing the value these innovations generate. Success in the humanoid robots market is not merely about technical prowess, but about scaling fast, ratcheting up market share, and bolstering pricing power—all made possible through strategic business model innovations.
The rapid pace of technological advancements means competitors can quickly catch up on engineering breakthroughs—or even leapfrog—existing technologies. Moreover, the physical nature of robotics leaves proprietary designs vulnerable to reverse engineering, exposing innovators to imitation and competition. Adding to this complexity is the global collaboration fostered by open-source platforms and international research networks, which, while accelerating progress, also dilute competitive advantage. Protecting intellectual property through patents often proves to be a daunting task—securing them is expensive and complex, and enforcement is an uphill battle, fraught with high costs and limited effectiveness. In this relentless race, the question emerges: how can innovators truly secure their place in the future of humanoid robotics?
Simplify Onboarding
Simplifying the adoption and onboarding process accelerates customer acquisition and satisfaction.
User-Friendly Interfaces: Design robots that are easily set up and integrated into existing workflows.
Comprehensive Training Programs: Provide onboarding support to help customers maximize robot utility.
Customization Options: Allow clients to tailor robots to specific needs without extensive re-engineering.
Efficient and incremental onboarding: Create an agile-friendly onboarding journey that can start small and expand the scope with a phased impact that pays-as-scaled.
Design For Openness
An ecosystem amplifies the value of the robots, making them more attractive to potential customers.
Developer Communities: Encourage third-party developers to create applications and add-ons.
Open APIs: Provide access to robot functionalities, fostering innovation and customization.
Partnership Programs: Collaborate with other tech providers to expand the robot's capabilities.
Open source know-how: Foster open knowledge that feeds into more open knowledge.
Design For Speed
Scaling rapidly allows companies to become the go-to provider before competitors can establish a foothold.
Global Distribution Networks: Establish partnerships to reach international markets quickly.
Flexible Financing Options: Offer leasing or Robotics-as-a-Service (RaaS) models to lower entry barriers for customers.
Mass Production Techniques: Implement lean manufacturing to produce robots at scale and reduce costs.
Learning Curve: Attain the top position in terms of field-hours which becomes a self-reinforcing competitive advantage as the AI/autonomous system is further adopted.
Design For Retention via Network Effects
As more users adopt the robots, the overall value increases for everyone involved.
Data Sharing Platforms: Create networks where robots learn from each other's experiences.
Interconnected Operations: Enable robots to communicate, enhancing efficiency and coordination.
Customer Communities: Build user groups that share best practices and promote the product.
Design For Retention via Switching Costs
High switching costs discourage customers from moving to competitors, ensuring long-term revenue streams.
Integrated Solutions: Offer end-to-end services that become integral to the customer's operations.
Long-Term Contracts: Provide incentives for extended commitments.
Proprietary Platforms: Develop unique software ecosystems that are costly to replace.
Position For A Scaleable Dominance: Horizontal Integration
By concentrating on a single activity in the value chain and excelling at it, companies can establish dominance and create significant barriers to entry for competitors.
Focus on a Single Value Chain Activity: Specialize in one critical aspect of the value chain, such as financing, certification, insurance, after-sales (maintenance, repair, upgrade, retrofit, salvage, recycle, etc), add-ons, and apps.
Focus a Niche: Become the horizontal industry leader in that specific activity, making it difficult for competitors to match your expertise.
Leverage Economies of Scale: Achieve cost advantages and efficiencies through specialization that are hard for others to replicate.
Create Industry Dependence: Other companies may rely on your specialized services, further entrenching your position in the market.
Case Studies: Business Model Innovations in Action
Universal Robots' Collaborative Approach
Business Model: Focused on collaborative robots (cobots) that are user-friendly and easily integrable into existing workflows.
Scaling Strategy: Established a global network of distributors and certified system integrators.
Outcome: Achieved significant market penetration and leadership in the cobot market.
Amazon's Integration of Robotics in Supply Chain
Business Model: Utilizes robots extensively to optimize its supply chain, improving efficiency and reducing operational costs.
Ecosystem Growth: Through AWS RoboMaker, Amazon provides cloud-based development environments for robotics applications, supporting third-party developers and fostering innovation.
Outcome: Enhanced operational efficiency within its warehouses and fulfillment centers, and expanded into offering robotics development tools to external developers through AWS.
ABB's Robotics-as-a-Service
Business Model: Provides robots on a subscription basis, reducing upfront costs for customers.
Customer Onboarding: Offers comprehensive support and integration services.
Outcome: Attracted a broader customer base and generated steady, recurring revenue.
Conclusion
In the competitive field of humanoid robotics, engineering prowess alone is insufficient for long-term success. While technological innovations are essential but not easily protected and can quickly become commoditized. Companies must therefore innovate their business models to scale rapidly, capture market share, and build sustainable competitive advantages. Businesses can establish a dominant position in the market by focusing on efficient and incremental onboarding, ecosystem development, horizontal integration, network effects, and strategies to increase switching costs. The future of humanoid robotics will be shaped not just by the robots themselves, but by the business models that bring them to the world.
© 2023 Eren Yilmaz. All rights reserved.
