Mass Production Year or Year Before It?
2026 is called the "year one of humanoid mass production" — but the reality: Unitree G1 is already delivering to developers at ¥99,800; UBTECH Walker S is training in BYD and NIO factories; Agibot A2 has signed hundreds of supply chain partners. True mass production (10k+ units) is expected 2027-2028. The cheapest entry point today is the Unitree G1.
US vs China: Two Approaches
The US approach (Tesla, Figure, Apptronik) relies on AI foundation models for general intelligence — aiming to execute any task in any environment. The Chinese approach (Unitree, Agibot, UBTECH) prioritizes industrial use cases — start by moving things in factories, then generalize. Each has trade-offs: higher ceiling but longer timeline vs faster commercialization.