Deeptech and AI · Research note · 30 Sep 2026
Humanoid robots now have units and a price
More than 22,000 humanoid robots shipped worldwide in the first half of 2026, and the prospectus of 2025's volume leader implies an average of roughly US$23,000 each. What that changes for anyone underwriting robotics.
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Every number, and where it comes from
The first five figures in the note.
The full table has 8 rows. Each figure is as published on the date shown, with its denominator.
| Figure | What it measures | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 22,000+ | Humanoid robots shipped worldwide in H1 2026, up nearly 300% year on year. Counterpoint's definition and count. Full-year 2026 expected above 50,000 units, 2.1 times 2025. | Counterpoint Research via The Standard, 20 Aug 2026 |
| ~19,100 | Humanoid robots shipped worldwide in H1 2026, up 272% year on year, on Smart Analytics Global's separate definition and count. This is the base for every vendor share below. Not interchangeable with the 22,000+ figure. | Smart Analytics Global, 10 Aug 2026 |
| 86% | Share of H1 2026 humanoid shipments from Chinese companies, which took the top five global spots. Counterpoint's base. SAG separately puts Chinese vendors above 97% of shipments and China above 85% of demand on its own base. | Counterpoint via The Standard, 20 Aug 2026; Smart Analytics Global, 10 Aug 2026 |
| ~8,400 (44%) | AgiBot humanoid shipments in H1 2026 and its share of the SAG base of about 19,100 units. Unitree is about 5,900 (31%) on the same base, about 75% together. All others, about 4,800 (25%), is the author's subtraction from the SAG total. Counterpoint's separate count puts AgiBot at about 9,700 (over 43%) and Unitree above 7,000 (31%). | Smart Analytics Global, 10 Aug 2026 |
| 5,632 | Humanoid robots Unitree sold in total across 2023, 2024 and 2025, company-reported in its IPO prospectus. Compared on the slides with about 5,900 shipped in H1 2026 alone on the SAG count, or more than 7,000 on Counterpoint's. Three years against six months, deliberately. | Unitree IPO prospectus via China Daily on the SSE site, 10 Aug 2026 |
3 more figures in the PDF, each with its source.
Sources
10 primary releases.
- Counterpoint Research, Humanoid robot shipment tracker, H1 2026, as reported by The Standard (Hong Kong) (20 Aug 2026)Global humanoid shipments up nearly 300% year on year to more than 22,000 units in H1 2026; full-year 2026 expected above 50,000 units, 2.1 times 2025; Chinese companies in the top five spots at 86% of shipments; AgiBot about 9,700 (over 43%), Unitree more than 7,000 (31%). Counterpoint's own insight page (counterpointresearch.com, 20 Aug 2026) carries the headline but its body was not retrievable in full; figures are as reported by The Standard and match Forbes' 20 Aug 2026 report of the same release.thestandard.com.hk
- Smart Analytics Global, Global humanoid robot shipments, 1H 2026 (10 Aug 2026)About 19,100 units, up 272% year on year from about 5,100 in 1H 2025; Chinese vendors 97% of shipments; China 85% of demand; AgiBot about 8,400 units (44%), Unitree about 5,900 (31%), together about 75%; Galbot about 900, UBTECH about 700, Leju about 600. The all others figure of about 4,800 is the author's subtraction.smartanalyticsglobal.com
- Unitree Robotics IPO prospectus, via China Daily on the Shanghai Stock Exchange English site, Unitree prospectus, unit sales 2023 to 2025 (10 Aug 2026)33,294 quadruped and 5,632 humanoid robots sold across 2023 to 2025; more than 5,500 humanoids shipped in 2025, excluding wheeled dual-arm robots; revenue CNY 159.13M (2023), CNY 392.77M (2024), CNY 1.70B (2025); overseas revenue CNY 731.66M, 43.65% of main-business revenue, in 2025.english.sse.com.cn
- Unitree Robotics IPO prospectus, via Global Times on the Shanghai Stock Exchange English site, Unitree prospectus, humanoid revenue mix (6 Aug 2026)Humanoid revenue CNY 868M in 2025, 51.78% of total revenue as Global Times words it, on more than 5,500 units; total 2025 revenue CNY 1.699B. The implied average of about CNY 158,000 per humanoid, roughly US$23,000 at about 6.7 yuan to the dollar, is the author's division and conversion and is an upper bound.english.sse.com.cn
- Berg Insight, The Future of Humanoid Robots, via IoT Business News (4 Sep 2026)Annual shipments of 16,000 units in 2026 rising to 26.0 million units a year by 2040; market value US$890M to US$554B; 63.7% CAGR.iotbusinessnews.com
- TrendForce, China humanoid robot market, 2026 (19 Aug 2026)China humanoid market CNY 15B in 2026, with growth of at least 60% in 2027; adoption spans formal procurement, preorders, expressions of intent and application partnerships, and the market is still some distance from large-scale, standardized repeat purchases. Used here as the counterweight to the shipment counts.trendforce.com
- Yahoo Finance, Unitree STAR Market debut (19 Aug 2026)Unitree closed 460% above its IPO price on the STAR Market, valuing it at roughly US$50B; proceeds about CNY 6.1B (US$905M). Context only; not used as evidence in the findings.finance.yahoo.com
- International Federation of Robotics, World Robotics 2026, press conference presentation (24 Sep 2026)Nearly 7,000 full-size humanoid robots (height above 140 cm) sold worldwide in 2025. Used only to illustrate how far definitions diverge between counts.ifr.org
- The Robot Report, Unitree shares down 53% from IPO debut (9 Sep 2026)Unitree shares had fallen 53% from the first-day close by 9 September; restates humanoid revenue of CNY 868M, 51.78% of revenue, on more than 5,500 units in 2025. Context only.therobotreport.com
- X-Rates, USD to CNY monthly average, 2026 (25 Sep 2026)August 2026 average 6.7382 and September 2026 average 6.7110 yuan per US dollar. Used only for the single currency conversion in this note.x-rates.com