"Lower prices have made the products more acceptable to Chinese consumers," Ding told the Global Times. As humanoid robot pricing increasingly aligns with functionality, the market is beginning to segment by demand and price range.

　　Economies of scale

　　In 2025, China had more than 140 humanoid robot manufacturers nationwide, with shipments reaching 14,400 units, which accounted for 84.7 percent of the global total production, according to a report by the People"s Daily. The country"s humanoid robot market size reached 1.55 billion yuan last year, and the world"s top six humanoid robot makers by shipments were Chinese companies, the report said.

　　The main driver behind incessantly falling prices is the release of scale effect.

　　In the past, the high cost of humanoid robot was largely due to very low production volume that can hardly cover R&D expenses. As the yearly production has risen from a few thousand units to tens of thousands, the average cost plunged rapidly.

　　"As total production scales up, R&D and manufacturing costs are spread out, and the robots" selling prices dive," Wang Peng, an associate research fellow at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times.

　　And, the shift is not happening in isolation, but the result of coordination across the entire industrial chain. Tens of thousands of Chinese companies, big or small, are now involved in robotics. Falling costs for core components are driving down the selling price of complete robot systems. "Every segment of the supply chain helps reduce the cost," Wang noted.

　　At the 2026 Shanghai International Embodied Intelligence and Humanoid Robotics Industry Chain Exhibition, multiple manufacturers showcased standardized product lines tailored for different scenarios, with prices ranging from 10,000 yuan to 100,000 yuan.