Shanghai-based AgiBot shipped roughly 8,400 humanoid robots in the first half of 2026, enough to overtake longtime leader Unitree Robotics and claim 44 percent of the global humanoid robot market, according to research firm Smart Analytics Global cited by the South China Morning Post. Hangzhou-based Unitree shipped about 5,900 units for a 31 percent share, dropping to second place after leading the category for much of the past two years.
The shift reflects diverging strategies. AgiBot's shipments surged 562 percent year over year on the strength of a broad product line spanning full-size bipedal robots, compact humanoid units and wheeled models aimed at different price points and use cases. Unitree, by contrast, has leaned heavily on its flagship G1 humanoid, concentrating on education, research and performance-demonstration deployments rather than chasing volume across multiple product tiers.
Together, the two companies now account for roughly three-quarters of global humanoid robot shipments. The overall market grew quickly too: global shipments rose 272 percent year over year to 19,100 units in the first half of 2026, up from about 5,100 a year earlier, according to Smart Analytics Global's tally. Industrial and commercial applications accounted for more than 70 percent of first-half deployments, up from roughly half a year earlier — a sign that humanoid robots are moving from research demonstrations toward factory and warehouse floors faster than many expected.
Racing toward public markets
The shipment numbers landed just as both companies push toward stock listings. Unitree priced its Shanghai STAR Market initial public offering at 150.8 yuan per share, valuing the company at roughly $9 billion and aiming to raise around $900 million, with subscriptions opening August 10, according to Robotics & Automation News. Unitree's revenue more than quadrupled to 1.7 billion yuan in 2025, with humanoid robots becoming its largest business line at 867.8 million yuan in sales. AgiBot, meanwhile, is preparing its own Hong Kong listing.
Even so, both valuations remain modest next to where Wall Street thinks the category could eventually go. Bank of America has valued Tesla's Optimus program at around $30 billion on its own, while Morgan Stanley has floated a long-run estimate as high as $180 billion — a reminder that China's current shipment lead has not yet translated into comparable valuations for its two leading manufacturers.
For now, AgiBot and Unitree together are setting the pace for a category that Tesla, Figure and Boston Dynamics are all racing to commercialize. How each converts fresh IPO proceeds into expanded manufacturing capacity, and into paying industrial customers beyond splashy demonstrations, will shape whether China's early lead in shipments holds through the back half of the year.
