Catenaa, Wednesday, January 14, 2026-China is driving the global expansion of humanoid robot production, with shipments of general-purpose embodied intelligent robots growing nearly sixfold in 2025, according to a new Omdia report.
Despite high visibility for US firms like Boston Dynamics, Chinese companies dominate unit volumes, reflecting the country’s manufacturing scale and coordinated industrial strategy.
The Omdia study shows that by late 2025, humanoid robotics moved from prototypes to scaled pilot production, combining Chinese volume manufacturing with US AI advancements.
Companies in the US, including Tesla, Figure, and Agility, excel in functionality but face challenges in rapidly scaling output to match China’s production pace.
Technological progress is also accelerating. The convergence of advanced AI models, dexterous 16-degree-of-freedom robotic hands, and end-to-end imitation and self-reinforcement learning is enabling robots to perform industrial, service, and emerging household tasks autonomously.
While fully general-purpose robots capable of handling diverse unstructured tasks remain in development, the market is approaching commercial viability.
Omdia forecasts the global humanoid robot market will roughly double annually, reaching 2.6 million units by 2035. The combination of rapid AI innovation and mass production is expected to increase both the availability and sophistication of robots in industrial and consumer environments.
Industry analysts suggest China’s dominance stems from manufacturing efficiency and state-coordinated support, while US firms are likely to focus on innovation-driven differentiation.
The report indicates that the next decade could see a major transformation in robotics applications worldwide, with general-purpose humanoid robots becoming increasingly common across sectors.
See also Xinhua report
