The sale of ABB's robotics division to SoftBank has hit a delay. On 5 November, ABB announced that the Chinese authority for foreign investment security review has prohibited the acquisition of the Chinese part of ABB Robotics. This was reported by blue News, among others. According to ABB and SoftBank, both companies are still working constructively on the transaction.

What is going on

In October 2025, ABB announced that it is selling its robotics division to the Japanese company SoftBank, for an enterprise value of about 5.4 billion dollars. Completion was expected in the course of 2026. According to Forbes, ABB Robotics employs about 7,000 people, in China, the United States and Sweden. The division had revenue of 2.3 billion dollars in 2024.

The prohibition applies to the Chinese part of the division. According to Manufacturing Dive, China accounts for about 30 percent of ABB Robotics' revenue, and the division has a large fully automated factory in Shanghai. SoftBank and ABB are talking again. The options mentioned are: leaving the Chinese part out of the purchase, a different buyer, or splitting off the division as an independent company. Neither company has announced a decision or timeline yet.

What does this mean for companies with ABB robots?

This changes nothing about how the robots in Dutch and Belgian factories work. It is a question of ownership, not of technology. An IRB 6700 on a welding line or an IRB 4600 loading a machine does the same work tomorrow as it does today.

It is, however, a good moment to look at what you control yourself. With a robot, that is mainly the dress pack: the package of cables and hoses that runs along the arm to the tool. That package moves with every movement and wears first, especially around the wrist on axes 4 to 6. What a dress pack is exactly is explained in what is a dress pack.

Three things that do not depend on who owns the robot manufacturer:

Know your wear parts. Protective hose, clamps, ball joints and the retraction system are the parts you replace. Record which sizes and article numbers are fitted on your robots.
Keep the most important parts in stock. A torn hose or a worn clamp is quickly replaced if the part is there. Missing a number? Request it via parts and repair.
Look at the wrist. Chafing, kinking or a whipping loop are early signs of cable breakage. What to look out for is explained in preventing cable breakage on your robot.

What Wisman Techniek does

Through its robotics division, Wisman Techniek supplies Reiku dress packs, matched to the make and model of your robot, from advice to assembly. For ABB robots you will find what you need to know per series at dress packs for ABB robots. If a robot runs on a linear axis, we as exclusive dealer of Tsubaki Kabelschlepp in the Netherlands also supply the cable carrier for the supply lines.