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As retail excitement around the listing of China's best-known humanoid maker, Unitree Robotics, reaches fever pitch, skeptics are questioning how long it will take before these robots can move beyond running and acrobatics to perform genuinely useful work.
The Hangzhou-based startup priced its IPO at 150.8 yuan ($22.4) a share, raising $900 million and valuing the company at 61 billion yuan, or about $9 billion.
Investors expect a big first-day pop from Unitree, when its shares start trading on Shanghai's STAR market later this month, making it the first humanoid robot firm to list on the mainland.
Unitree's offering saw record retail demand in Shanghai's STAR market, with the online tranche oversubscribed more than 5,000 times, translating to a historically low lot-winning rate of 0.018%. Its IPO also attracted strategic investors including AI startup DeepSeek.
A Unitree-linked pre-IPO perpetual contract on Hyperliquid was trading at roughly four times its IPO price as of Friday, as investors turn to crypto-derivative exchanges to bet on stocks before trading begins.
Celebrated for throwing kung fu kicks and bouncing back from knockdowns, Unitree's robots still face questions over whether the technology can scale commercially, with AI and software constraints unresolved.
"For these humanoid robots, to be honest, they're fascinating. They can dance and all that – but never seen them doing any real housework," said Hao Hong, managing partner of Lotus Asset Management.
In its prospectus , Unitree said that progress for large-scale commercial adoption may be slower than expected, as robotic hands are still not precise or durable enough for sustainable use.
Hong noted that retail investors are piling in partly because there are so few humanoid robotics companies to invest in.
Dominik Pross, equity analyst at VP Bank, says even advanced humanoid robots can typically handle only a small number of tasks – and for just a few hours before having to recharge their batteries. Most humanoid models run for up to four hours while sitting idle.
"Robots have to be specifically trained for each and every task entrusted to them, even the simplest," he said, adding that complex everyday activities are not yet within reach.
More robotics listings are set to follow. Unitree rival AgiBot and Leju Robotics are seeking to go public in Hong Kong and Shenzhen, respectively. LimX Dynamics founder Will Zhang told CNBC last month that "listing is a must."
Lower-cost manufacturing has helped China pull ahead of global rivals in robotics.
Wood Mackenzie expects the global humanoid robot fleet to grow more than 90% annually through 2035 to surpass 10 million units. Annual shipments are projected to top 4 million by then. China is already the dominant player, accounting for more than 70% of global industrial robot installations and nearly 90% of all humanoids deployed last year, according to the research firm.
Average humanoid robot prices have plunged 93% between 2020 and 2025 to $58,000, according to Wood Mackenzie. The firm projects that Unitree's $16,000 flagship G1 model costs just $82 a year in electricity to run for eight hours a day, but says wider adoption could add pressure to electri…