Today, Unitree Robotics opened its IPO subscription. As a highly representative enterprise in the humanoid robot sector landing in the capital market, it has once again focused the market's attention on the real development level of the domestic humanoid robot industry. Behind the enthusiasm at the capital level, the semi-annual growth data on the industrial side is very prominent: according to the latest data from MIR DATABANK, China's humanoid robot production in the first half of 2026 approached 25,000 units, a year-on-year surge of 312%; shipments approached 20,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 314%.
Whether it is capacity construction on the manufacturing side or commercial implementation facing the market, the pace of industrialization of humanoid robots is faster than expected.
01. Overall Scale: Capacity Achieves Scale Verification, and Commercial Shipments Steadily Ramp Up
① Statistics only include production and shipments in the Chinese market for each brand, excluding overseas; ② The product statistics scope includes full-size bipedal humanoid robots, small and medium-sized bipedal humanoid robots, and wheeled humanoid robots, excluding humanoid robots under 1m and consumer-grade humanoid robots for ToC.
According to the latest data from MIR DATABANK, China's humanoid robot production in the first half of 2026 approached 25,000 units, more than four times that of the first half of 2025; shipments approached 20,000 units, also more than four times that of the first half of 2025.
The substantial increase in humanoid robot production relies on the concentrated release of mass production capabilities. In the first half of 2026, more and more manufacturers chose to build their own production lines, or advance mass production through contract manufacturers and government pilot bases: Agibot relied on external contract manufacturing cooperation to complete capacity ramp-up, with the 15,000th complete unit rolling off the line in June, steadily achieving monthly deliveries of thousands of units; Leju Robotics adopted a model of "completing process validation at the Longhua Pilot Base in Shenzhen + building a 10,000-unit-level automated production line jointly with Dongfang Precision in Foshan," connecting the link from R&D to batch manufacturing; the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center relied on its own pilot platform to complete complete machine polishing, and then linked with the Lingyi Intelligent Manufacturing Super Factory to implement large-scale contract production. The capacity of leading manufacturers has multiplied, enhancing the stability of complete machine supply and synchronously improving quality.
As the scale of mass production continues to rise, the demand side is equally active. In the first half of 2026, the market was still dominated by display and experience needs, but the focus has gradually shifted from basic mobility to the robot's autonomous operation capabilities, and value-oriented demand has begun to emerge. The focus of industry development is shifting from mobility performance validation to operation capability construction, and the commercial transformation is advancing step by step.
02. Product Structure: Three Main Types of Models Show Differentiated Development Paces
From the perspective of the product line structure, the performance of the three types of models in the first half of 2026 varied.
Small and Medium-Sized Bipedal: Both supply and demand are strong. Small and medium-sized bipedal humanoid robots are the largest category among the three types of models. Suppliers with independent R&D capabilities for complete machine hardware, such as Unitree, Agibot, and ENGINEAI, have extensive layouts, with high head concentration and large capacity expansion. Applications in scenarios such as entertainment performances and reception guidance are mature. Unitree humanoid robots have appeared on the Spring Festival Gala multiple times to complete cluster martial arts and dance performances, and are also widely used in interactive performances at exhibitions and commercial events; Agibot Lingxi X2 undertakes reception guidance and bilingual interactive interpretation at major technology exhibitions and operator showrooms, and can independently complete visitor reception and exhibit introductions; in addition to cultural and tourism performances, ENGINEAI PM01 has been deployed on the streets of Nanjing to carry out pilot applications for crowd guidance and public display.
Wheeled: Ushering in a window period for order expansion. Wheeled humanoid robots are highly applicable in commercial and industrial scenarios, facilitating the validation of algorithm model capabilities. Suppliers focusing on software algorithm capabilities, such as Agibot, Galbot, and Zibianliang, have extensive layouts. For example, Galbot's Galbot S1 wheeled model achieves 7x24 hours of continuous operation in CATL factories, Agibot's wheeled humanoid robots complete material handling deployment on Fulin Precision production lines, and Xinghaitu wheeled platforms are supplied in large quantities to universities and enterprise R&D institutions for iterative validation of embodied intelligence algorithms. The production of leading manufacturers has increased significantly year-on-year. At the same time, wheeled models meet the current scenario implementation needs, attracting more manufacturers to lay out. The number of new players has increased, and several new entrants have launched wheeled humanoid prototypes and carried out pilot tests in factories and retail sites.
Full-Size Bipedal: Dominated by manufacturers aiming for full-stack independent R&D of software and hardware, such as Agibot and UBTECH. There are many suppliers, generally targeting home scenarios for long-term technical validation and optimization. However, the high threshold for R&D investment determines that the capacity of new players is generally small. Most manufacturers maintain small-batch prototype production and pilot delivery. Large-scale mass production and capacity expansion are relatively cautious, with the focus on technology iteration.
More and more manufacturers are accelerating the commercialization process, with various sales models such as agency and leasing emerging one after another, and the gap between shipments and production continues to narrow. First-tier manufacturers are increasing their investment in scenario implementation, with a large volume of actual demand orders, mostly concentrated in wheeled and small-to-medium-sized bipedal models, improving the match between capacity deployment and market demand.
03. Industry Applications: Coexistence of Old and New Demands, with Subtle Structural Changes
As projects with operation intelligence needs gradually scale up, the demand in the first half of 2026 shows the characteristics of "coexistence of old and new," with shipments still mainly concentrated in entertainment performances, reception guidance, and data collection. However, structural changes have initially emerged, with industrial orders growing, humanoid robots being implemented in more industries such as automotive, logistics, and lithium batteries, and the proportion of retail applications requiring complex human-computer interaction rising.
Commercial Applications:
In terms of entertainment performances, domestic market demand has been active in the past two years, mainly focusing on small and medium-sized bipedal applications, with full-size bipedal applications increasing; future emotional consumption will still have continuous demand.
In terms of reception and guidance, related technologies are relatively mature and adaptable to a wide range of venues. It is expected to extend to outdoor scenic spots in the future, with great market potential.
In terms of data collection and training, from 2025 to 2026, local governments continue to invest in the construction of data collection factories and new training grounds. However, with the maturation of large models, the pace of subsequent expansion will slow down.
People's livelihood-related fields such as medical, retail, hotel, and catering have huge potential space, but they highly value interactivity and safety, and the application environment is changeable. A substantial increase in demand is expected to appear in the next 3 to 5 years.
Industrial Applications:
In the industrial field, the implementation of logistics and automotive scenarios takes the lead: the automotive and logistics industries are moving faster in the humanoid field, while applications in industries such as 3C electronics and lithium batteries are expected to increase in 2026. Industrial scenarios have higher requirements for the operation capabilities of humanoid robots, and their order growth also confirms the direction of the industry's transformation from "action intelligence" to "operation intelligence."
Home Scenarios:
Home scenarios are generally regarded as the ultimate market for humanoid robots, but their explosion still needs to wait for the joint satisfaction of three conditions: technology maturity, cost, and regulation.
Others:
In terms of special industries, large order demands in industries such as electric power have begun to appear, but due to the immature technology of humanoid products and few application implementations, it is still mainly in the early pilot stage at present.
04. Latest Forecast: MIR Upgrades Full-Year Forecast, Industrial Advancement Faster Than Expected at the Beginning of the Year
Based on the actual performance of China's humanoid robot market in the first half of 2026, MIR has upgraded its full-year market forecast, expecting the full-year production in 2026 to reach about 55,000 units, and shipments to reach about 48,000 units.
Scenario implementation remains the key driving force for market scale growth. The industry continues to deepen its demand-oriented transformation, gradually bidding farewell to past scenario pilots that focused on short-term demonstration and display and lacked real demand support, focusing on the implementation and validation of high-value scenarios, and paying more attention to the authenticity of demand and the feasibility of business models.
Hardware mass production capabilities are accelerating towards maturity, while model algorithms remain the core bottleneck in the medium and long term for the industry. The scaled manufacturing system for complete machines is gradually taking shape. The future technical focus lies in the iteration of embodied foundation models and the continuous optimization of specialized small models for vertical scenarios, improving the autonomy of robot operations through software and hardware synergy.
Conclusion
As the industry moves forward, mass production capability has become a mandatory question for all enterprises. Mass production is only an important milestone for the industry towards commercialization. The future growth ceiling of the industry will be defined by the iteration capabilities of embodied foundation models and small models for vertical scenarios. When robots can stably undertake various real work scenarios, the entire embodied intelligence industry will also usher in a new stage of value release.