Analysis of Unitree Robotics' Commercialization Path: Low-Price Strategy to Capture Market Share, IPO Prospects and Challenges Coexist

According to the latest data, the commercialization path of Unitree Robotics’ robot business

, but it still faces challenges in large-scale application. Here is a detailed analysis:

Unitree Robotics has formed

: quadruped robots contribute 65% of revenue, humanoid robots account for 30%, and component products make up 5%. The company adopts a ‘stepwise pricing’ strategy—its H1 humanoid robot is priced at 99,000 yuan, and the entry-level R1 is only 39,000 yuan, far lower than the price level of about 200,000 US dollars of European and American peers [0]. This price advantage comes from China’s complete manufacturing supply chain, where everything from batteries, sensors to reducers can be procured locally [0].

The company has completed 10 rounds of financing in total, attracting well-known institutions such as Shunwei Capital, Sequoia China, and CITIC Securities. It completed a nearly 1 billion yuan Series B2 financing in 2024, and this year’s Series C financing was co-led by China Mobile, Tencent, Alibaba, and Ant Group, with a valuation reaching 12 billion yuan [1]. It plans to submit an IPO application by the end of 2024, with a target valuation of 7 billion US dollars [0].

According to Tianyancha statistics, Unitree Robotics has won 25 government procurement projects this year, close to the total of 32 winning projects in the whole year of 2024, ranking first in the industry in direct winning bids [2]. About 20% of quadruped robots have been applied in industrial scenarios such as fire detection, while humanoid robots have established a stable customer base in scientific research and education fields [1].

Although Unitree robots have performed well in specific scenarios such as the Spring Festival Gala performance and robot sports competition races,

. Currently, humanoid robots are mainly sold to research institutions, and their deployment in large-scale application scenarios such as factories and homes still takes time [0]. Frequent falls and collisions of participating models in the World Humanoid Robot Games confirm that product stability still needs improvement [0].

As competitors like DeepRobotics and Songyan Power accelerate their entry, the price war for humanoid robots is becoming increasingly fierce. The rapidly evolving K1 model is priced at 88,000 yuan, forming internal competition with the H1 series. This ‘involutionary’ development may compress the overall profit margins of the industry [0].

Morgan Stanley’s research report points out that current humanoid robots still have capability bottlenecks when performing basic tasks such as object retrieval [3]. Although the company has demonstrated strong hardware cost control capabilities, the commercial verification of core technologies such as software algorithms and motion control remains a key challenge.

The commercialization path of Unitree Robotics

—quickly capturing market share and building brand awareness through a low-price strategy, then gradually expanding to industrial application scenarios. However, the leap from ‘laboratory product’ to ‘large-scale commercial use’ still needs to overcome challenges such as technical stability and application scenario expansion. It is recommended to continue to pay attention to the financial data disclosed by the company after the IPO, especially changes in gross profit margin and the status of existing orders.

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[0] Yahoo Hong Kong Finance - ‘Robots Dance at Spring Festival Gala to Show Future, Unitree Robotics Plans Year-End IPO’ (https://hk.finance.yahoo.com/news/機器人春晚舞出未來-宇樹科技擬年底上市-025904035.html)

[1] Tiger Brokers - ‘Unitree Robotics Confirms IPO Timeline’ (https://www.itiger.com/news/1172288996)

[2] 36氪 - ‘The Trillion-Dollar Robot Market: Will Unitree or Figure…’ (https://eu.36kr.com/en/p/3517025641535873)

[3] Yahoo Hong Kong Finance - ‘Morgan Stanley Predicts: $5 Trillion Humanoid Robot Industry Boom!’ (https://hk.finance.yahoo.com/news/大摩預言-人形機器人產業5兆市場爆發-034005525.html)