Humanoid Robot Mass Production Begins, Fasteners Enter New A

In 2025, the humanoid robot industry officially entered its first year of mass production. A concept once confined to science fiction is rapidly moving from laboratories to commercial deployment. According to Omdia, global humanoid robot shipments are expected to reach 13,000 units in 2025, with three leaders—Zhiyuan, Yushu, and UBTECH—dominating with total shipments exceeding 10,000 units. As production scales expand and costs continue to decline, domestic simplified models have already dropped below 50,000 RMB, with a target to fully enter the 100,000 RMB price range by 2027.

GGI data projects that global humanoid robot sales will surge from 11,900 units currently to 605,700 units by 2030, with the market size exceeding 15 billion USD, including an estimated 38 billion RMB in China. Behind these figures lies the industry's transition from technical validation to commercial deployment. However, a practical question arises: where are these mass-produced robots going, and why are they still rarely seen in daily life or most factories? The answer lies in the industry's unique development stage and application scenarios, a process that is bringing new opportunities to the upstream fastener industry.

Current humanoid robot mass production must be understood within its industrial development context. Annual shipments in the tens of thousands remain modest compared to the hundreds of thousands or millions in automotive and consumer electronics industries, roughly equivalent to a large car factory's output over just a few days, far from widespread adoption. However, the core value of this mass production is not volume breakthrough but validation of technology and supply chain feasibility, achieving a critical leap from 0-1 to 1-10.

Behind this leap lies coordinated support from the upstream supply chain, with fasteners playing a crucial role as core basic components. Humanoid robots have complex structures. Assembly of joints, torsos, end effectors, and other components relies on high-precision, high-strength, lightweight fasteners. From laboratory prototypes to commercial products, fastener stability directly determines robot motion precision and service life. This production scale increase demonstrates that China has developed fastener supporting capabilities adapted to complex robot requirements, enabling initial cost reduction and technology path validation.

Current mass-produced humanoid robots are not yet functioning as general-purpose labor replacing humans. Instead, based on technological maturity and market demand, they are directed into five core application areas, each with differentiated fastener performance requirements.

Commercial display and service represent the most active area. Yushu robots appearing on New Year's Eve galas and Zhiyuan launching a rental platform are examples. Such scenarios emphasize human-like interaction and visual effects. Robot dance movements and emotional conversations rely on flexible joint operation, demanding extremely high wear resistance and fatigue resistance from micro-precision fasteners, typically using titanium alloy or high-strength stainless steel to ensure stability under high-frequency motion.

Industrial manufacturing is the large-scale application scenario that the industry hopes for. Humanoid robots are gradually entering automotive, 3C electronics factories, and warehousing logistics centers. Zhiyuan's Expedition A1 completed material handling demonstrations at Junpu Intelligent's production line. UBTECH's Walker S series has entered Geely, BYD, and other automotive factories, performing handling, sorting, and screw tightening tasks. In such scenarios, robots must adapt to high-intensity, high-tempo operating environments. Fasteners must not only meet strength grades above 800MPa but also provide anti-loosening and vibration resistance. However, industrial applications remain in demonstration and validation stages. A Morgan Stanley report shows UBTECH's robot takes 1.5 minutes to handle a single box, achieving only 30% of human efficiency. Fastener lightweighting and assembly precision optimization are becoming key breakthrough points for efficiency improvement.

Research and education represent the most stable application market. Products from Zhiyuan, Yushu, and other manufacturers already cover Tongji University, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, and other institutions. In research scenarios, robots are primarily used for algorithm validation, control theory research, and teaching demonstrations. Fastener compatibility and replaceability requirements are high, supporting frequent structural disassembly and debugging while providing precise force feedback data. This area has formed a win-win model of academic research and industrial iteration. Fastener companies can collect real-world test data from research scenarios to optimize product design and accumulate technical reserves for subsequent commercial applications.

Serving as core carriers for data factories represents another important direction for humanoid robots. Robot training centers being established nationwide focus not on physical products but on generating perception and decision data during task execution. The stability of data collection depends on reliable fastener fixation. However, current industry data standards are inconsistent with existing barriers. Intelligent fastener upgrades, such as fasteners with integrated sensors, could become key to breaking these barriers, enabling real-time monitoring of component stress and operating status to improve data collection precision.

Vertical industry exploration also deserves attention. Fourier Intelligence's GR-3 focuses on rehabilitation and elderly care. CloudMinds' DR02 targets power line inspection, outdoor security, and other scenarios. These applications demand stringent environmental adaptability from robots. Rehabilitation robots must balance comfort with load capacity, often using passivation-treated fasteners to avoid human injury. Outdoor inspection robots require corrosion-resistant and temperature-resistant fasteners adapted to complex field conditions. Although current scale is limited, such explorations validate robots' unique value and open specialized tracks for fastener companies.

Despite accelerated production progress, humanoid robots still face technical and scenario gaps before integrating into daily life and factories, driving fastener industry upgrades. Technologically, robots lack sufficient motion control and environmental perception capabilities in complex unstructured environments, imposing higher demands on fastener dynamic adaptability. In terms of scenarios, existing applications are mostly customized and have not yet entered general-purpose areas with strict cost and efficiency requirements. At this stage, fastener companies must simultaneously iterate technology and develop specialized products adapted to different scenarios, such as micro anti-loosening bolts for precision joints and corrosion-resistant fasteners for outdoor use.

Long-term, explosive growth in the humanoid robot industry is inevitable. Fasteners, as core supporting components, will see continued market expansion. The global fastener market for humanoid robots is expected to exceed 5 billion RMB by 2030, with high strength, lightweighting, and intelligence becoming core development directions. Domestic fastener companies must seize opportunities, strengthen collaborative R&D with robot manufacturers, break through core technologies including precision cold heading and surface treatment, capture high-end supporting markets amid industry iteration, and achieve a leap from basic component suppliers to core support service providers.