Just when you thought the humanoid robot market couldn’t get more crowded, Unitree Robotics is apparently clearing its throat to shout “hold my beer.” At the recent IROS 2025 conference, founder and CEO Wang Xingxing reportedly declared the company’s new R1 humanoid is “ready for mass production.” This aggressive posturing points to a potential shipping date as early as late 2025 or early 2026, aiming to move the R1 from conference slideshows to actual loading docks with surprising speed.
The R1 is Unitree’s play for the more accessible end of the market, targeting researchers and developers with a shockingly low starting price of around $5,900. While that entry-level model makes some compromises—like fixed fists and a one-hour battery life—it’s a clear shot across the bow of competitors. The company, already a dominant force in quadruped robots, seems determined to replicate that success on two legs, complementing its higher-end H1 and G1 models with a volume-focused product. This isn’t just a prototype; it’s a strategic push to get hardware into as many hands as possible.
Why is this important?
Unitree’s claim of mass production readiness for the R1 is less about a single robot and more about a fundamental market shift. Moving from boutique, six-figure humanoids to a sub-$10,000 model built for scale could dramatically accelerate development across the entire industry. While “mass production” can mean anything from a few thousand units to tens of thousands, the intent is clear: to lower the barrier to entry for humanoid robotics and saturate the market before rivals like Tesla and Figure can fully scale. If Unitree can deliver on this timeline, it may force the industry to compete on price and availability much sooner than anyone expected, turning the humanoid “race” into a full-blown sprint.
