China’s Unitree Launches USD 5,900 Humanoid Robot Ahead of IPO
Unitree Robotics has unveiled its most affordable humanoid robot to date, the R1, priced at USD 5,900, as it prepares for a public listing in China.
The Hangzhou-based company showcased the R1 in a video on Chinese social media, where the robot performed athletic feats such as cartwheels, hand-walking, punching, lying down and standing up, and running downhill.
Standing 121 cm tall and weighing 25 kg, the R1 features 26 joints. Unitree has not released further technical specifications.
Marketed as “born for sport,” the R1 is aimed at individual developers and consumers. It is significantly cheaper than Unitree’s earlier models, the G1 and H1, which start at 99,000 yuan and 65,000 yuan, respectively.
The G1 stands 130 cm tall and weighs 35 kg, while the H1 is 180 cm tall and weighs 47 kg.
Unitree’s pricing undercuts several domestic competitors. UBTech Robotics, listed in Hong Kong, launched a life-size humanoid robot in March for 299,000 yuan. Shenzhen-based EngineAI’s PM01, released in December, was priced at D 88,000 yuan as of March, though it stands only 138 cm tall.
Internationally, Tesla’s Optimus robot is expected to cost under USD 20,000 if production reaches 1 million units annually, according to CEO Elon Musk. However, the robot is not yet commercially available.
Some models are priced even lower than the R1. In May, AI community Hugging Face released the HopeJR, a full-size open-source humanoid robot, for USD 3,000, following its acquisition of France-based Pollen Robotics in April.
Unitree’s R1 debut comes shortly after the company submitted tutoring documents to China’s securities regulator, a key step toward its planned IPO.
The firm aims to complete its application documents by December and is on track to become the first humanoid robot maker to list on a mainland Chinese stock exchange.
Earlier this month, Shanghai-based AgiBot announced plans to acquire a controlling stake in Swancor Advanced Materials, a publicly traded company, but denied intentions for a back-door listing.
Unitree Robotics launched the R1 humanoid robot for USD 5,900
The R1 is 121 cm tall, weighs 25 kg, and has 26 joints
It is cheaper than most domestic and international competitors
Source: SCMP
