As leading Chinese humanoid robot makers unveil increasingly affordable models, advances in manufacturing, supply chain localization and growing production volumes are pushing the sector into a new phase of commercial adoption.

Unitree Robotics recently launched its dual-arm humanoid robot R1 with a starting price of 26,900 yuan ($3,968), making it the company's most affordable humanoid robot to date. Earlier, Noetix Robotics introduced its Bumi robot for 9,998 yuan, becoming one of the first consumer-oriented humanoid robots priced below the 10,000-yuan threshold. Around the same time, Booster Robotics also launched its K1 series with a starting price of 29,900 yuan.

The declining pricing trend is no longer limited to consumer products. Industrial humanoid robots have also begun entering the under 100,000-yuan range. Astribot's T1 humanoid robot, for example, starts at 89,900 yuan.

The shift marks a significant departure from just a few years ago, when humanoid robots in China typically sold for several hundred thousand yuan each.

According to Unitree's prospectus, the average selling price of its humanoid robots fell from around 593,000 yuan in 2023 to about 260,000 yuan in 2024, before declining further to 167,