Why China’s humanoid robot industry is winning the early market
Chinese companies shipped roughly 36 times more humanoid robots than US rivals like Figure and Tesla last year, with firms like Agibot and Unitree leading a market that's still tiny (13,317 units globally) but expected to hit 2.6 million by 2035. The advantage isn't just volume — China's EV-built supply chain of sensors, batteries, and manufacturing infrastructure lets companies iterate and ship new models far faster and cheaper than Western competitors. The catch: the hardware is outpacing the software, with robot "brains" still struggling with real-world autonomy due to severe training data scarcity — meaning the race is far from decided.