Unitree is one of the Chinese technological jewels. He wants to do with robots the same thing Xiaomi did with mobiles

In advanced robotics are Boston Dynamics or Tesla who monopolizes the headlines, but a Chinese company is following an alternative path to end up being The next big one of the robotic sector: Unitree.

Founded in 2016 in Hangzhou, on the East China coast, it follows a strategy that reminds a lot of that of Xiaomi in its beginnings: Try to offer the best possible technology at demolition prices. Thus Xiaomi conquered countries like Spain and thus tries to make a hole in world robotics.

Of course, the prices of this type of robots have nothing to do with those of a Redmi.

Value proposal

The price difference is large. One of Boston Dynamics’s most famous robots, Spot, costs about $ 75,000. The unitree Go2, relatively similar, It is sold for 1,600 in its cheapest mode. This strategy has allowed him to dominate the square robot market, where he already has a 40% market share according to the Gaogong Institute.

The most important thing is not so much the price and what it implies: A paradigm shift in the way of selling advanced robotics. Other manufacturers focus their robots as premium products for companies or for armies. Unitree understands them as massive technology. Or almost.

After quadruped robots, the big challenge is in the bipeds. The humanoids. And there Unitree has his G1 modelwhich sells for $ 16,000. A lot of money, but quite less than what is expected that costs the Tesla optimus.

Its specifications:

• Height of 1.32 meters (approximately a nine -year -old child).
• Weight of 35 kilos.
• Race speed of 2 meters per second (7.2 kilometers per hour, equivalent to a very slow trot).
• Lidar 3D.
• Intel Realsense depth chamber (only this component is already worth $ 1,300 in the free market).
• Advanced voice control.

Beyond specifications, G1 is an example of the Pragmatic Approach of Unitree: it does not seek spectacular demos of its humanoid robotics, but the ability to produce them in mass.

It is no accident that Unitree has left Hanghzou. From there they have come out Many other technological ones And it is in fact the headquarters of Alibaba. It is the place where Capital, talent and manufacturing converge.

Hangzhou is one of the vertices of what we could call the Chinese technological trianglenext to Shenzhen and Shanghai. And within Hanghzou, Unitree is one of the calls “Six small dragons“: The six startups that are emerging in AI and Robotics. Of course, another of the Dragoncitos is Deepseek.

To understand Unitree’s strategic importance: it was One of the 18 companies chosen by Xi Jinping For the technological symposium of a few days ago with Deepseek, Huawei, Byd, Tencent, Xiaomi, Catl … a sign of power and faith.

The founder’s enigma

The founder of Unitree is Wang Xingxingsomeone who breaks several stereotypes:

• He studied at the University of Science and Technology of Zhejiang, a respectable but not first level institution. Many founders of their generation did study in elite centers or abroad.
• He was never a brilliant student … Not much less.
• Xingxing itself admitted that He could not enter the University of Zhejiang (more prestigious) for not having enough English level.

After spending a couple of months in DJIthe giant of the droneshe was encouraged to launch his own company. And he said In an interviewthe beginnings were hard: “During the first three years there were times when we couldn’t even pay salaries.”

Again, a modest beginning that contrasts with the usual pattern of high -profile Chinese startups, which usually start with large rounds of financing and management equipment from large technological ones. This is the case of Xpeng, Child either Bytedance.

Wang, on the other hand, started practically from scratch, sleeping for a month on a friend’s couch. His vision was also atypically modest for a Chinese technological founder. Instead of distilling excessive ambition with a certain grandiloquence, he set a simple objective: to get anyone to have a robot at home.

At the moment he is not going wrong with that idea.

The challenges to grow

Despite its good tour to this day, it remains a lot to solve for the future. Starting with autonomy. Their humanoid robots have for about two hours of useinsufficient for prolonged use. And the guarantee is Only eight monthssomething that can deter more than one buyer from products several thousand dollars. How to offer adequate technical service when something goes to a client from anywhere in the world is another unknown.

And of course, it remains to be seen if these robots can do real domestic tasks, completely, without requiring human help or auction, in such different environments as the home of each consumer. Very different to do so in a demo in a controlled environment.

Million’s question is If Unitree’s business model will be sustainable in the long term. Prices remain low thanks to vertical integration and their physical closeness with the Chinese supply chain, but advanced robotics in 2025 is an insatiable investment plaintiff in R&D. And do it with tight margins complicates the equation.

Future unknowns on the margin, Unitree represents well to A new generation of Chinese technology: Those that compete around the world with tight prices and a very pragmatic approach, more focused on assuming tedious tasks than in making us crack our eyebrows with magic tricks.

Now, its success – or its failure – can end up determining whether advanced robotics ends up becoming a technology for the masses … or if you stay in a premium niche product.

At the moment, Unitree has shown that there is a certain market for advanced robotics when it is offered at mundane prices. Now you will have to show that you can keep the accelerator pedal tread.

Outstanding image | UNITREE, Xataka

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