While the current manufacturing norm of "made in China" is on everyone's radar, what many investors aren't aware of is the increasing importance of robotics in cheap labor markets such as China. Foxconn, the popular Chinese electronics manufacturer, mostly known for it's production of Apple products and associated labor issues, is one such company realizing the importance of robotics in manufacturing. While low labor cost used to be the competitive advantage of this company in China, rising labor wages and labor disputes have prompted the company to invest in robotics. Foxconn President Terry Gou has said that the company plans to replace 1 million workers with bots over the next three years and has ordered at least 10,000 robots so far. In this special Motley Fool video series, industrials analyst Blake Bos discusses four companies set to capitalize on this growing trend in markets across the world, and picks the best company for your portfolio.
Note: Yaskawa and Fanuc are traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange under symbols: TSE: 6506 & TSE: 6954.
