What obstacles will the world's first social robot, priced at US$749, face in entering China?

After smart hardware, the concept of robots is becoming increasingly prevalent in the technology field. We have previously experienced products that call devices similar to Amazon Echo robots, but in essence, you can think of it as a smart speaker with a Wi-Fi module plus a smart home control chip.

In terms of functions, Jibo has the ability of self-learning, can build user behavior patterns, and respond and interact according to needs, such as issuing reminders, chatting, telling stories, taking photos, schedule reminders, ordering meals, sending emails, connecting to smart devices, holding video conferences, etc.

Therefore, Jibo may be the real prototype of civilian robots in people's lives in the future. Next, what we are more concerned about is whether Jibo's entry into China can proceed smoothly.

Localization

At a communication meeting held by NetPosa and Jibo in Beijing, Jibo's nearly "black technology" function demonstration stunned industry insiders who were accustomed to surprising scenes. The only drawback was that Jibo didn't seem to be very good at speaking Chinese.

Chinese and Chinese-style language expression can be said to be the primary problem and the biggest challenge for the implementation of smart technology in China. Even the Chinese version of Apple's Siri could not be launched simultaneously with the English version. From the perspective of semantic recognition alone, there is no technology in the world, including Apple, that truly satisfies the vast majority of Chinese people.

The Jibo team said that the Chinese localized version of Jibo is expected to be released in the middle of next year. The Linux-based SDK will also make it easier for Chinese developers to add rich functions to it. They especially emphasized that the Chinese version of Jibo may be more interesting than the English version, and it seems that they are confident that Jibo can speak fluent Mandarin.

price

Yes, Jibo is too expensive.

Although the price of the localized version in China has not yet been announced, Jibo will be launched in the United States in the near future before it is launched in China at the end of this year, with a price of US$749, or about RMB 4,935.

Frankly speaking, since the advent of Xiaomi mobile phones, Shenzhou computers, and LeTV televisions, Chinese people have not seen such new and cost-effective technological products for a long time.

Of course, from a certain perspective, Jibo may not be expensive. After all, judging from the human-like demonstration, Jibo can even be your boyfriend or girlfriend, alleviating the pressure of being single that people in big cities generally face. However, whether single people are willing to spend the price of a PS4 and an XBOX ONE to buy a high-end doll that can make you laugh is a matter of personal opinion.

Market demand

A successful product can always maintain a roughly reasonable supply and demand relationship in the market, just like the wave of smartphones set off by the advent of Apple’s iPhone, and the various weird smart hardware products created by domestic Internet companies. It is estimated that many people don’t know what to buy them for.

Today's Jibo has a lot of surrealism and shows some ideas that are often only seen in science fiction movies. If we compare Hollywood blockbusters with domestic films, it is several generations ahead of the domestic average.

It seems too early to ask how much room for development a product like Jibo has in China. Thinking from another perspective, even the penetration rate of smart homes in domestic households is estimated to be far less than 1%, and the latter has been tinkered with for many years by domestic entrepreneurs and innovation teams of large companies.

Last but not least, Jibo still lacks a catchy Chinese name. The two syllables “Ji” and “bo” don’t seem to be very suitable when pronounced.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.