China humanoid robot makers hold 97% of shipments in H1, report says - Taipei Times
Although the number of humanoid robots deployed in commercially productive roles remains small, China’s policy support and funding from different levels of governments are helping accelerate their path into the mainstream.
Key takeaways
- The U.S. has just banned new imports of Chinese‑made humanoid and quadruped robots, citing national‑security concerns, while Chinese manufacturers continue to dominate the market: AgiBot overtook Unitree as the world’s largest vendor, shipping 8,400 units (44 % of global shipments) in the first half of 2026; Unitree shipped about 5,900 units.
- Global shipments rose 272 % year‑on‑year to 19,100 units in H1 2026, with 97 % of the volume coming from China.
- In the U.S., Tesla is still testing its Optimus line internally, and Boston Dynamics is pushing its Atlas robot toward commercial production, though industrial‑scale deployment remains limited.
- A San Francisco‑based start‑up, Tau Robotics, has launched a pilot that lets residents pay $30 per hour for a 50‑k‑dollar robot to clean their homes.
- Meanwhile, New York legislators have introduced a bill that would ban schools from employing humanoid robots as classroom assistants after a local district’s pilot.
Although the number of humanoid robots deployed in commercially productive roles remains small, China’s policy support and funding from different levels of governments are helping accelerate their path into the mainstream.
The prioritization of such robotics was on full display at the World AI Conference in Shanghai last month, where dozens of robot makers unveiled advances in dexterity, speed and capabilities.
An important shift is also under way in how the robots are being used.
“Industrial and commercial applications accounted for more than 70 percent of shipments, up from approximately 50 percent a year earlier,” Smart Analytics Global founder and principal researcher Linda Sui (隋倩)said. Regulatory uncertainty and geopolitical risks could shape the industry’s next phase of growth, she added.
Separately, the highly anticipated initial public offering (IPO) of Unitree drew huge demand from retail investors as China’s leading humanoid robot maker opened books in Shanghai.
The retail portion of the IPO was 5,526 times subscribed, with individual investors submitting 9.8 million orders, according to an exchange filing released yesterday.
The company sold 40.4 million shares at 150.8 yuan apiece, raising about 6.1 billion yuan (US$904 million) to become mainland China’s first publicly traded humanoid robot maker.
The company is expected to debut on Shanghai’s STAR Market this month. The offering gives Unitree a market value of approximately 61 billion yuan. Technology Co (智元創新) overtook Hangzhou-based Unitree Robotics (宇樹科技) to claim the top spot in market share, capturing 44 percent of global shipments with 8,400 units in the six-month period, compared with Unitree’s 5,900 units.
Their volumes dwarf shipments from top US companies such as Tesla Inc, Figure AI Inc and Agility Robotics Inc, underscoring the pace of development within China.
Late last month, the US banned imports of new Chinese humanoid and quadruped robots, along with certain components, citing national security and cybersecurity risks to critical US artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure.
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