China is now racing to dominate the humanoid robot market with its electric vehicle strategy. Several Chinese companies showcased their newest robots at the World Robot Conference in Beijing meant for use in factories. The robots, designed to replace human workers on assembly lines, could change the face of manufacturing within no time.
China has rapidly grown in the humanoid robot industry, mimicking its tried-and-tested recipe. Government support, fierce competition, and a deep supply chain combine to drive growth. Beijing established a $1.4 billion fund for robotics, while Shanghai is setting up a similar fund to support the humanoid industry.
Noticeably, the humanoid robots at the conference shared components with China’s electric vehicles. Batteries and sensors used in the robots were from domestic suppliers who prospered during the EV boom, which could potentially help cut costs and accelerate the development of said bots.
Goldman Sachs assumes that in 2035, humanoid robots will form a global market of $38 billion. By 2023, the material cost of building a robot fell to about $150,000. The Chinese are pushing these costs lower—with some targeting prices as low as $30,000.
Chinese companies are especially skilled at volume production and making products cheap—both prerequisites for growing the market for humanoid robots. Hu Debo, CEO of Shanghai Kepler Exploration Robotics, also points this out. His company has already finished developing a fifth version of a worker robot and will soon start mass production.
It has also had a huge influence on Chinese developers, with Tesla’s Optimus robot at the forefront. Tesla’s move integrates artificial intelligence and production robots, which creates a high threshold for competitors. However, some Chinese firms believe their ability to mass-produce and price advantage can still help them compete.
Already, one Hong Kong-listed firm called UBTECH Robotics has begun testing robots in car factories with an eye on mass manufacturing, looking to have as many as 1,000 robots in factories next year. Most components of its robots are sourced locally within China—further proof that the country boasts a very strong supply chain system.
That puts China at the forefront of robot production, based on available data. It has more factory-installed production robots than any other country way above North America. However, experts like Arjen Rao of LeadLeo Research Institute say that large-scale application in commerce is a few decades away.
China’s strategic focus on humanoid robots can be the future in manufacturing. As technology advances and prices drop, it may not be long before these robots become ubiquitous across factory floors worldwide.
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