China’s humanoid robot makers control 97% of global shipments

Chinese manufacturers shipped more than 18,500 humanoid robots in the first half of 2026, according to Smart Analytics Global (SAG). That’s over 97% of the roughly 19,100 units shipped worldwide during the same period. To put the growth in perspective, total global shipments during the first half of 2025 were just 5,100 units, making this a 272% year-over-year increase.

Two companies run the show

Shanghai-based AgiBot led the pack with approximately 8,400 units shipped, capturing a 44% global market share. Unitree Robotics, headquartered in Hangzhou, came in second with about 5,900 units, good for 31%.

Together, those two companies account for roughly 75% of all humanoid robots shipped globally. The remaining 25% is split among a long tail of smaller Chinese firms and a handful of American competitors, including Tesla, Figure AI, and Agility Robotics, which represent only a sliver of global volume.

SAG projects full-year 2026 shipments will approach 60,000 units globally, and by 2030, the firm expects that number to balloon to 500,000.

Why China, and why now

Three factors are converging to give Chinese manufacturers their commanding position: supply chain depth, domestic demand, and government backing.

China already dominates global manufacturing of the components that go into humanoid robots, from electric motors and sensors to batteries and precision actuators. Building a humanoid robot in Shenzhen or Shanghai means your suppliers are a short drive away, not an ocean freight container away.

Domestic demand is the second pillar. China’s manufacturing sector faces a well-documented labor crunch driven by an aging population and declining birth rates. Factories, warehouses, and logistics hubs represent a massive addressable market for robots that can perform repetitive physical tasks.

Beijing has explicitly identified humanoid robotics as a strategic technology, funneling subsidies, research grants, and preferential policies toward domestic developers. Provincial and municipal governments have followed suit, creating robotics industrial parks and offering tax breaks.

Both AgiBot and Unitree Robotics are reportedly preparing for potential IPOs, a move that would give them access to public capital markets and the financial firepower to invest more aggressively in R&D and production capacity.

The 97% number comes with a caveat

Dominating shipments is not the same thing as dominating value creation. The vast majority of units shipped are going to pilot programs, research labs, demonstrations, and early-stage deployments. Very few are operating autonomously in real-world environments, performing tasks that justify their cost relative to simpler alternatives like robotic arms or wheeled platforms.

Tesla’s Optimus program benefits from massive internal demand within Tesla’s own factories, but has not yet shipped at volumes that register meaningfully against Chinese output.

If SAG’s projection of 500,000 annual units by 2030 proves accurate, the humanoid robot market will have grown nearly 100x from its 2025 baseline in just five years.

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