Are Robotics the Next Economic Bubble?

I have a knack for sniffing out economic bubbles.  In the 1990’s, I was working on emerging Internet technologies, and then pop.  In the 2000’s, I found myself in the middle of the real estate boom, and oh boy did it go boom.  And now Robotics…

My predication is based upon the hype of a new public company called Quantum International Corp., which was reported (by their own press release) as one of the most promising new companies at last week’s Shanghai International Robot Show.  QUAN (ticket symbol) has not produced a single robot, rather their CEO, Robert Federowicz, went to Shanghai on a sourcing mission.  Mr Federowicz declared, “Quantum International is working toward new potential partnerships to increase our business footprint in China, and this show proved a great introduction.”  Interestingly, his company’s website promotes general robotic market data to justitfy its current $1.45 share price.

Make no mistake, robotics are the ultimate definition of disruptive technology.  Their explosion is just beginning, according to Daiwa Capital Markets industrial robots alone will represent $41 billion in 2020. In other robotic sectors all the indicators are positive, even in this down market. So the bubble is just beginning to expand.  If companies like QUAN are able to get buzz by just riding the industry’s coat-tails, imagine when they announce their first product… Oh, did I mention, rumor has it that Apple is working on a robot – talk about the Terminator.