Humanoids move to factories
China’s humanoid‑robot push is shifting from demos to volume: UBTech went from fewer than 10 factory humanoids in 2024 to over 1,000 last year and aims to launch 10,000 units this year, while events like a robot half‑marathon are showcasing technical progress. That surge is happening alongside faster shipments from multiple Chinese players and sceptical demand forecasts for Tesla’s Optimus program, which some outlets expect to deliver far fewer units. (indianexpress.com) (economictimes.indiatimes.com) (en.sedaily.com)
China’s humanoid-robot race is moving off the show floor and onto factory lines, with Chinese makers now shipping robots by the thousands instead of the dozens. (nst.com.my) UBTech had fewer than 10 humanoid robots working in factories in 2024, according to Chief Business Officer Michael Tam. In 2025, that figure rose to more than 1,000, and the company said it aims to launch 10,000 full-size humanoid robots in 2026. (nst.com.my) The public demo is happening in Beijing on April 19, where more than 300 humanoid robots from over 70 teams are running a 21-kilometer half-marathon with paved slopes and parkland sections. Last year’s winning robot, Tiangong Ultra, finished in 2 hours and 40 minutes. (uk.news.yahoo.com) Humanoid robots are built to use human-shaped spaces, tools and workstations, so factories can test them without rebuilding entire production lines. Chinese carmakers and electronics manufacturers are now placing enough orders for researchers to describe demand as shifting from trial use to commercial orders. (trendforce.com) Shipment data now shows how concentrated that shift has become. Omdia’s 2025 figures, cited by CGTN and Xinhua, put AgiBot at more than 5,100 humanoid robots shipped, Unitree at 4,200 and UBTech at 1,000, with global shipments at about 13,000 units. (news.cgtn.com) (english.news.cn) TrendForce said China’s humanoid-robot output could rise 94% in 2026, with Unitree and AgiBot together accounting for nearly 80% of shipments. The firm said the industry is entering a “critical phase of commercialization” in the second half of 2026. (trendforce.com) That pace contrasts with much smaller shipment estimates for U.S. rivals in 2025. The same Omdia figures cited by CGTN and Xinhua said Figure AI, Agility Robotics and Tesla each shipped roughly 150 to 500 humanoid robots last year. (news.cgtn.com) (english.news.cn) Tesla is still setting large targets around Optimus, but outside forecasts remain cautious. A Seoul Economic Daily report on April 18 said some analysts expect far fewer units than Tesla’s public ambitions, even as the company keeps pointing investors toward robotics and artificial intelligence. (en.sedaily.com) For now, the clearest signal is not the race in Beijing but the order books behind it: Chinese companies are turning humanoids into factory equipment, and 2026 is the year those volumes started to look industrial. (trendforce.com)
