'Samsung's Bet on the Future' — Rainbow Robotics, Korea's Humanoid Pioneer [K-Humanoid Wars, Part 2]

[Korea Financial Times, Kim JaeHun] As 2026 began, Hyundai Motor Group's "Atlas" sent a fresh shockwave through the industry. Samsung Electronics' Rainbow Robotics and Doosan's Doosan Robotics have also declared their own humanoid commercialization plans, gearing up for full-scale competition. Meanwhile, parts makers including Hyundai Mobis, Model Solution, and ROBOTIS are reshaping their portfolios. This series examines the current status and future strategies of companies in Korea's humanoid robot ecosystem. — Editor's Note


The public unveiling of Boston Dynamics' humanoid robot Atlas triggered a sharp rally across robot-related stocks, drawing intense attention from investors.
Rainbow Robotics, one of Korea's leading robotics developers, has also seen its share price surge recently, capturing the spotlight among market participants. Rainbow Robotics is the company that Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong selected for the group's future robotics business. The company is targeting the commercialization of humanoid robots by 2028.

Through this partnership, Samsung Electronics aims not only to automate manufacturing facilities across the group, but also to position the humanoid robot as a next-generation integrated device to succeed the smartphone.

Share Price Surges 91% in Three Months

According to the Korea Exchange, Rainbow Robotics shares hit an all-time low of approximately KRW 350,000 in November last year, before climbing to around KRW 670,000 — a gain of roughly 91% in just three months.

The stock also set a new 52-week high of KRW 785,000 during intraday trading on the 30th of last month.

At the time of that record high, Rainbow Robotics' price-to-earnings ratio (P/E ratio) surged to approximately 7,000 times. The P/E ratio indicates how many times a company's share price exceeds its earnings per share (EPS) — generally, a lower P/E suggests undervaluation, while a higher P/E suggests overvaluation. Given that the sector average P/E stands at approximately 139.46 times, Rainbow Robotics' valuation is exceptionally elevated.
This is attributed to the confluence of a robot stock theme rally and the company's lack of meaningful earnings improvement — including three consecutive years of operating losses.

Last year, Rainbow Robotics posted losses in each of the first three quarters, and the average net profit attributable to controlling interests (i.e., net income allocated to the parent company's shareholders in the consolidated financial statements) over the most recent four quarters stood at approximately KRW 2 billion. Dividing this by the total issued shares of 19.39 million, EPS amounts to a mere approximately KRW 100.

Ultimately, Rainbow Robotics' share price surged to around KRW 700,000 despite weak earnings, driven by two key attractions that came into focus in January this year: the emergence of Atlas, and the company's status as Samsung Electronics' chosen vehicle for its future business strategy.

Korea's Original Humanoid Pioneer

Rainbow Robotics is Korea's foremost humanoid developer, established in 2011. The company was founded by Oh Jun-ho, a leading figure in Korea's robotics industry, who currently serves as Head of Samsung Electronics' Future Robotics Division.

Oh Jun-ho, during his tenure as a professor at KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology), participated in 2004 in the development of "HUBO," the world's first bipedal walking humanoid robot. He continued research to foster the humanoid ecosystem before co-founding Rainbow Robotics in 2011 with his former students. Listed on the KOSDAQ in 2021, Rainbow Robotics has since focused on localizing and commercializing key humanoid components and platforms.

Rainbow Robotics gained widespread attention as the company selected by Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong for the group's future robotics business. In 2021, Chairman Lee announced a large-scale investment plan to strengthen future new businesses including robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) — and Rainbow Robotics caught his eye at that time.

Samsung Electronics participated in a rights offering by Rainbow Robotics in January 2023, investing approximately KRW 59 billion to secure a 10.22% stake. In March of the same year, Samsung further expanded its holding to 14.7% through an over-the-counter purchase worth approximately KRW 27.8 billion, and entered into a call option agreement.


Prior to Samsung's move, Hyundai Motor Group had already acquired Boston Dynamics and Tesla had officially announced its humanoid robot business, accelerating the race to secure technological capabilities.

On December 31, 2024, Samsung Electronics exercised its call option on Rainbow Robotics, expanding its stake to 35.0% to become the largest shareholder and incorporating the company as a subsidiary. Oh Jun-ho, who had been the previous largest shareholder, stepped down from Rainbow Robotics and moved to head Samsung Electronics' newly established Future Robotics Division.

Samsung's Next-Generation Device

Following the incorporation of Rainbow Robotics as a subsidiary, Samsung Electronics further strengthened its foundation for future robotics development. The company is accelerating development of an intelligent, advanced humanoid robot by integrating Rainbow Robotics' robotics technology with its own AI and software capabilities, with a target commercialization date of 2028.

Samsung Electronics has earned recognition for having completed a vertically integrated structure for humanoid development — encompassing Rainbow Robotics' humanoid development expertise and technological know-how, semiconductors and memory, Samsung SDI for robot battery production, Samsung Electro-Mechanics for expanding its portfolio of essential components such as actuators, and actual manufacturing facilities for real-world validation.

At CES 2026 in January, Samsung Electronics CEO Noh Tae-moon stated, "Robotics is an important growth engine for the future," adding, "This is a moment when Rainbow Robotics, which we acquired last year, and Samsung Electronics' DX Division are collaborating to simultaneously advance multiple projects — from foundational technologies to the physical AI engine deployed in robots."

Rainbow Robotics is currently developing humanoid robots for deployment at Samsung Heavy Industries' Geoje Shipyard. Following that, the company plans to conduct operational tests across various scenarios at other Samsung affiliates' facilities, collecting data on robotic automation systems for tasks such as welding and materials handling to inform future commercialization.

At the earnings conference call for fiscal year 2025 results held last month, Samsung Electronics CFO Park Soon-cheol emphasized, "We will ensure that we deliver results in the humanoid robotics business this year as well, in terms of preparing for the future."

Kim JaeHun (rlqm93@fntimes.com)