Who: SoftBank, Alibaba and Foxconn
What: Teamed up to market Pepper robot
When: 18 June 2015
Japan’s SoftBank Corp on 28 June 2015 announced that it has set up a joint venture with Chinese online shopping giant Alibaba and electronics supplier Foxconn Technology to sell its human-like robot Pepper around the world.
The company in its statement said that the robot will go on sale to general consumers from 20 June 2015 for 198000 yen (1610.54 dollars) each plus monthly fee and insurance. These waist-high peeper robots will serve as baby-shitters, medical workers or even party companions.
At present, these robots which can learn and express human emotions are used in stores including SoftBank’s mobile phone shops.

SoftBank will have a 60 percent stake in the joint venture, while Alibaba and Foxconn each will spend 14.5 billion Yen ($117.94 million) for 20 per cent stakes.