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Eunice Xu

Chinese robotics companies are increasingly banking on quadruped robots as major revenue drivers, a trend highlighted by AgiBot’s recent decision to spin out its four-legged robotics unit into a new subsidiary called AgiQuad, and Amap’s coming launch of a quadruped model.
The move by AgiBot was intended to drive large-scale growth so that the unit would not “live in the shadow of the humanoid robot giant”, Qiu Heng, chief operating officer of the new subsidiary, said at a media briefing last week.
Shanghai-based AgiBot’s portfolio originally comprised four divisions, including the Yuanzheng commercial humanoid, the wheeled and dual-armed Genie, the compact Lingxi humanoid for consumers, and the AgiQuad quadruped unit.
The newly established AgiQuad has targeted 500 million yuan (US$73 million) in revenue for 2026. By 2030, it aimed to reach 10 billion yuan in revenue and 300,000 units in annual shipments, according to a report by the official media outlet Securities Times.
Underscoring the red-hot demand for the company’s products, Qiu noted that AgiQuad was struggling to keep units on the shelves. “Our mid-sized quadruped robots are not here today because they are completely sold out, and there is no stock left in the warehouse,” he was quoted as saying by Shanghai Securities Times.
The booming quadruped robot market is also attracting newcomers. Alibaba Group Holding’s digital mapping platform Amap is set to release a quadruped robot, the first such product from the e-commerce giant, according to a Tuesday report by Sina Tech. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.

Hangzhou-based Unitree and Deep Robotics have long dominated the sector, having both established their footing in the industry through four-legged machines.
Unitree led the industry with 32.4 per cent of the global market in 2024, followed by Deep Robotics at 18.9 per cent, according to data from IDC.
Profitability for Unitree’s quadruped robots had steadily improved, with gross margins climbing to 55.5 per cent in the first nine months of 2025 from 42.4 per cent in 2022, according to its initial public offering prospectus. Unitree sold 17,946 quadruped units in the first three quarters of 2025, generating 490 million yuan in revenue.
The second biggest player, Deep Robotics, was estimated to have shipped around 10,000 units last year, according to the report by Shanghai Securities Times.

The global quadruped robot market was worth about US$180 million in 2024, with total shipments of around 20,000 units, according to data from IDC. The research firm estimated that in 2026 China’s quadruped robot market value would exceed US$700 million.
Qiu predicted that the Chinese market for quadruped robot hardware would reach about 50 billion yuan by 2030. When factoring in the broader supply chain, software and services, that figure was expected to hit 100 billion yuan, according to Securities Times.
While consumer models used primarily for education and entertainment dominated shipments at 72.1 per cent in 2024, commercial robots commanded significantly higher per-unit value due to more advanced technical requirements, according to IDC.


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Robotics

Chinese robotics firms focus on quadrupeds as major revenue drivers

Customers view quadruped robots at Unitree’s physical experience store in Beijing on December 31, 2025. Photo: China News Service/VCG via Getty Images

An AgiBot robot dances to music during CES 2026 in Las Vegas, Nevada, January 6, 2026. Photo: Reuters

Quadruped robots appear as three dancing lions in this Cantonese opera performance in Singapore on December 20, 2025. Photo: Eugene Lee

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The newly established AgiQuad, a separate subsidiary under Shanghai-based AgiBot, is targeting US$73 million in revenue this year


The newly established AgiQuad, a separate subsidiary under Shanghai-based AgiBot, is targeting US$73 million in revenue this year.


Unitree Robotics

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Artificial intelligence (AI)

China

Chinese robotics firms focus on quadrupeds as major revenue drivers

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The newly established AgiQuad, a separate subsidiary under Shanghai-based AgiBot, is targeting US$73 million in revenue this year

The newly established AgiQuad, a separate subsidiary under Shanghai-based AgiBot, is targeting US$73 million in revenue this year