Eighteen car companies around the world have entered the field of humanoid robots.

International Electronic Business News on the 25th With the development of artificial intelligence and the continuous optimization of software and hardware, whether it is a robot manufacturer that suddenly became popular (such as UnitreeTechnology) or a car company that regards humanoid robots as the second growth curve (represented by Tesla), they are all making every effort to accelerate the commercialization of humanoid robots. In 2025, humanoid robots will usher in the first year of mass production, and the industrial chain is worth looking forward to.

Mass production is imminent, and 2025 will become a key node

If 2024 is the first year of the release of the global humanoid robot prototype, then 2025 is expected to become the first year of mass production of humanoid robots, and by 2026, commercial applications will explode. Many star robotics technology companies have also announced mass production plans:

● Tesla: Plans to produce 10,000 Optimus in 2025, 10,000 units per month in mid-2026, and 500,000 units in 2027.

● FigureAI: 100,000 humanoid robots will be mass-produced in the next four years.

● 1XTechnologies: Thousands of NEO bipedal robots are expected to be mass-produced in 2025, large-scale mass production in 2026, and millions of units will be mass-produced in 2028.

On the other hand, in the Chinese market, robotics companies such as UBTECH and Unitree Technology are also actively promoting mass production. It is worth mentioning that due to the popularity of Unitree's humanoid robots on the Spring Festival Gala, Unitree's consumer-grade humanoid robot G1, priced at 99,000 yuan, and industrial-grade humanoid robot H1, priced at 650,000 yuan, were quickly sold out and removed from the JD platform after being launched.

Regarding the pricing of robots, a staff member of UnitreeTechnology said: "In the future, it will not be a big problem for quadruped robots to drop to 3,000 to 4,000 RMB, and they can truly enter the consumer era. The current price of 10,000 RMB for quadruped robots is still a bit expensive for ordinary people."

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Many car companies cross-border into humanoid robots

In addition to vertical companies in the field of embodied intelligence, there are also many "cross-border players" who are also laying out the robot business. The most representative are automobile companies.

Automobiles are one of the important application scenarios of humanoid robots. Automobile manufacturers have advantages in precision manufacturing, large quantities, talents and funds. Humanoid robots will become an important extension direction of the automobile industry.

Recently, many car companies such as Xiaomi, Xiaopeng, and Weilai have announced their entry into the humanoid robot track, and giants such as Tesla and GAC have also accelerated their layout. According to incomplete statistics, 18 car companies around the world have entered this field, trying to open up a second growth curve under the framework of "same origin of intelligent driving technology" and realize the transformation from car manufacturers to smart travel and smart life solution providers.

Of course, the current commercialization of humanoid robots is mainly based on industrial scenarios. In industrial fields such as automobile manufacturing, humanoid robots can be used to replace dangerous operations, automate production, etc., improve factory production efficiency and reduce labor costs:

● Factory automation: Tesla plans to deploy more than 1,000 Optimus on the production line in 2025; GAC GoMate robots perform delicate tasks such as handling and pouring tea at a speed of 15km/h, replacing high-risk positions, and plans to take the lead in the demonstration application of the whole machine in the workshop production lines and industrial parks of GAC Trumpchi, Aion and other OEMs.

● Quality inspection and tool integration: Weilai tries to use humanoid robots equipped with visual sensors to realize automatic inspection of vehicle appearance and improve quality inspection efficiency.

The home service scene is still in the exploratory stage. Humanoid robots can be used as home care and companion assistants to provide life care, emotional companionship, health monitoring and other services for the elderly and children. The nursing function of Xiaomi CyberOne and the future home assistant positioning of Tesla Optimus need to break through technical bottlenecks such as cost and interactive safety.

Some analysts pointed out that the scale of home scenes requires the unit price of robots to be reduced to less than 100,000 yuan, and the problem of "universality" must be solved - current products are mostly limited to a single function, such as sweeping and transportation.

In addition, humanoid robots can also be used in education, entertainment, medical care and other fields, such as serving as educational tutors, entertainment performers, medical caregivers and other roles, bringing more convenience and innovative experience to people's lives and work.

The first year of mass production of humanoid robots brings many opportunities and challenges to electronic components

Opportunities

Demand growth: With the mass production of humanoid robots, the demand for various electronic components will increase significantly. For example, servo drives, servo motors and encoders in servo systems, motors as important parts of the execution layer, as well as sensors (visual, torque, position and other sensors), controllers, etc., have become core components, and market demand has increased significantly. Taking crystal oscillator products as an example, as a stable time benchmark for robot control units and functional modules such as sensors and drivers, the demand for them will rise with the mass production of robots.

Promoted by technological innovation: In order to meet the high-precision and high-performance requirements of humanoid robots in different scenarios, electronic component companies are motivated to carry out technological innovation. For example, TCXO oscillators have gradually become standard configurations for high-end electronic devices, including humanoid robots, due to their higher temperature stability and frequency accuracy, which has prompted crystal oscillator companies to continuously develop and innovate. At the same time, it will also promote the technical improvement of sensors in terms of perception accuracy and response speed, as well as the development of controllers in terms of computing speed and intelligence level.

New market expansion: Humanoid robots have a wide range of applications, covering medical care, education, disaster relief, public safety, manufacturing, family care, etc. Electronic component companies can take advantage of the opportunity of mass production of humanoid robots. As robots enter these new fields, they can expand their products to more market segments and open up new revenue channels.

Collaborative development of the industry: In the humanoid robot industry chain, electronic component companies will cooperate more closely with robot body manufacturers and other upstream and downstream companies. Through collaborative innovation and cooperation, electronic component companies can better understand market demand, improve product quality and adaptability, and also help to create a more complete industrial chain ecology and enhance their position in the industry.

Challenges

High performance and quality requirements: Humanoid robots often require extremely high accuracy, stability and reliability to perform tasks, which places strict requirements on the performance and quality of electronic components. For example, the controller needs to quickly and accurately process a large amount of sensor data and issue instructions, and the motor needs to ensure the stability and flexibility of the robot's movement. The performance deficiencies of any electronic component may affect the overall performance of the robot.

High pressure on technology updates: Humanoid robot technology is developing rapidly. In order to maintain competitiveness, electronic component companies need to keep up with new technologies, such as artificial intelligence and machine vision, and integrate them into product research and development. This requires companies to continue to invest a lot of R&D resources and maintain a high speed of technology updates, which is a challenge to the company's R&D capabilities and financial strength.

Cost control difficulties: While meeting high performance and high quality requirements, costs must also be controlled to adapt to the price competition pressure brought by the mass production of humanoid robots. Companies need to work hard in raw material procurement, production process optimization, etc., and reduce costs while ensuring product quality. This is not an easy task.

Fierce market competition: The huge market brought by the mass production of humanoid robots has attracted many electronic component companies to enter, and market competition has intensified. Companies not only have to face competition from their peers, but also have to deal with competition from different technical routes and alternative products. They need to continuously improve their core competitiveness, including brand, technology, service, etc.