SoftBank's Pepper robot sold out in a minute — and failed at nearly everything

SoftBank launched Pepper in 2014 as an 'emotional robot', overhyping it so far as to say its launch would be remembered '100, 200, or 300 years' into the future. Expectations were so inflated that the first batch of 1,000 robots sold out in a minute, at a price close to $2,000 — with monthly subscriptions starting at $550 on top.

The robot failed at almost every task assigned: it could not recognize the faces of the family it lived with or carry on a proper conversation; when it returned from a sensor repair, tech journalist Tsutsumu Ishikawa's unit greeted him with 'Nice to meet you!' despite the cloud memory that was supposed to remember the household. It failed as a Buddhist priest, as an exercise coach for the elderly and as a home companion, and ended up roughly as sophisticated as the smart speakers appearing at the same time — good mainly for taking temperatures, about as well as a $1 thermometer.

Ishikawa shipped his Pepper back to SoftBank in 2018 after spending at least $9,000 over the three-year life of his subscription agreement, with no eligibility for any refund: 'It was such a waste of money. I still regret it.' SoftBank also dispatched Peppers by the hundreds as cheerleaders for its professional baseball team during COVID lockdowns; one television viewer, Hirofumi Miyato, said the synchronized arm-waving 'felt creepy'.

By July 2021 the Wall Street Journal was publishing a full post-mortem, and The Verge's summary was blunt: SoftBank's Pepper robot is dead.

Owners paid about $2,000 plus subscriptions starting at $550 a month; one customer spent at least $9,000 over three years and got no refund.

The pitch promised an emotional companion; the product could not recognize faces or hold conversations, the two basics of that promise.

The subscription model locked buyers into years of payments for a device that underperformed a smart speaker.

SoftBank refused refunds, so every disappointed early adopter became a public grievance.

Selling an emotional relationship your product cannot deliver turns early adopters into your loudest critics — and subscription revenue into refund demands.

The Wall Street Journal's July 2021 post-mortem marked the end of the line for a robot that had gone from minute-long sellout to dystopian punchline in seven years, with the subscription bills — not the purchase price — the part customers said they regretted most.