TL;DR: Chinese robotics companies like Unitree absolutely dominated humanoid sales in 2025, taking a 90% global market share while US rivals struggled to break 150 units.
Silicon Valley loves a good concept video. But while American startups were polishing their marketing, China actually shipped the hardware. In 2025, a massive 90% of all humanoid robots sold globally came from Chinese firms.
Unitree took the crown, selling 5,500 units last year. Agibot was right behind them with over 5,100. Let that sink in. They’re moving thousands of metal bodies while major US players—like Figure AI, Agility Robotics, and even Tesla—sold roughly 150 each.
Why the blowout?
China is running the exact same playbook they used to dominate the EV market. Massive state funding, cheap local components, and ruthless competition. They have government-backed testing facilities specifically designed to accelerate humanoid R&D. It’s an industrial machine dialed in on dominating the next big tech wave.
Even Elon Musk had to admit it. Last month at Davos, he called China the “toughest competition” for Tesla, noting there are barely any serious competitors outside of it. He still thinks Optimus will win in the end, of course.
But right now? The scoreboard isn’t even close.