On March 20, Unitree Robotics released its prospectus ahead of a potential IPO, and one figure stood out: its overall gross margin reached 59.5% in the first three quarters of 2025.
Unitree’s business can be divided into three segments: quadruped robots, humanoid robots, and robot components, including dexterous hands, robotic arms, and LiDAR (light detection and ranging). Gross margins for those businesses were 55.5%, 62.9%, and 60.4%, respectively.
That is a high level for a robotics company. Among Unitree’s publicly listed Chinese peers, UBTech Robotics and Dobot reported gross margins of about 30% and 43%, respectively. Their average over the past three years was 37%, putting Unitree at roughly 1.5 times that level.
Unitree’s margin is also higher than Apple’s 48.2% gross margin in the first quarter of fiscal 2026, which Apple said was a record high.
Gross margin measures the share of operating revenue left after deducting operating costs, making it a rough indicator of operating efficiency.
So how did Unitree get there?
How Unitree kept costs down
A large part of the answer appears to be cost control. Several Unitree employees shared that founder Wang Xingxing pays close attention to spending.
“Wang Xingxing is extremely stingy on costs,” several Unitree employees told 36Kr.
One employee shared an example. On one occasion, Wang opened the battery compartment of a meeting room remote control, tagged everyone in the companywide group chat, and singled out a particular battery brand, saying it did not offer good value for money.
Another person familiar with Wang told 36Kr that he owns neither a home nor a car, lives in an apartment near the office, and walks to work every day.
That approach appears to have shaped the company as well. When 36Kr previously visited Unitree’s office building in Hangzhou, the space was sparsely furnished. A person familiar with the matter said the building had previously been used by a state-owned enterprise.
But frugality alone does not explain the cost structure. A more important factor is Unitree’s long-running effort to develop core components in-house.
Its prospectus shows that this in-house technology stack includes:
- Algorithms for embodied intelligence, reinforcement learning, and motion control.
- Intelligent systems, such as thermal management, energy management, and motor drives.
- Core components, including motors, gear reducers, dexterous hands, and LiDAR.
That gives Unitree an advantage across product lines. In its humanoid and quadruped robots, it can reuse technical modules such as joint drives, mechanical structures, battery management, and software algorithms. That can reduce repeated R&D spending and shorten the path from prototype to delivery.
The same logic shows up in manufacturing. While many robotics companies outsource production to ODM (original design manufacturing) partners to speed commercialization, Unitree has chosen a hybrid model that combines self-built production lines with external contractors.
More specifically, Unitree uses its own production lines for some core components and final assembly. For non-core parts, as well as standardized processes with broad market supply, including PCBA (printed circuit board assembly) and injection molding, it relies on outside contractors.
That model gives Unitree more control over critical technologies while limiting costs in lower-value parts of the production chain.
Inventory management is another factor. In robotics, demand is hard to forecast, and the high unit price of robots can turn unsold products into a drag on cash flow.
Unitree’s prospectus shows that in 2025, the sell-through rate of its quadruped products reached 86%, while its humanoid robots reached 96%. Put another way, of the 3,700 robots it produced, 3,551 were sold.
The company said this reflected demand-driven production combined with a safety stock system. In practice, that means sales plans guide production, helping it avoid excess inventory and unnecessary capital tie-up, while a limited inventory pool is kept to respond to sudden orders and smooth production swings.
Unitree also said it holds monthly meetings involving sales, production, and procurement teams so those functions can synchronize information and align production plans more closely with market demand.
Falling prices suggest that some of those cost reductions have filtered through to products. From January to September 2025, Unitree’s average selling price for quadruped robots was RMB 27,200, (USD 3,942.5) down 15.8%. Its humanoid robots sold for an average of RMB 167,600, (USD 24,293) down 35.7%.
One person in the robotics sector told 36Kr that Unitree’s cost of making quadruped robots is lower than the selling price of comparable products from some other robot makers. “Compared with other new entrants, Unitree’s real competitiveness lies in the R&D and manufacturing experience it has accumulated over the years,” the person said.
Other operating indicators point in the same direction. In the first three quarters of 2025, Unitree’s sales expense ratio was 6.5%, roughly half the level of UBTech and Dobot. For comparison, Xiaomi’s sales expense ratio is about 7.3%, while Apple’s is 6.6%.
The sales expense ratio refers to how much a company spends on sales activities for every RMB 100 (USD 14.5) in revenue it generates. Lower figures generally indicate a more efficient sales operation.
Its administrative expense ratio was 4.2%, or about one-sixth of the industry average.
Unitree said this was due in part to its lean management structure. It also said in the prospectus that neither the company nor any of its subsidiaries owns real estate, with leased properties helping lower depreciation and amortization.
What changed in 2025
High gross margins still depend on revenue scale. By that measure, the 2025 Lunar New Year gala appears to have been an important point in Unitree’s growth.
That is clear in its revenue figures. According to the prospectus, Unitree’s revenue remained in the RMB 100–300 million (USD 14.5–43.5 million) range from 2022–2024. At one point, that amounted to only one-tenth of UBTech’s revenue and about half of Dobot’s.
But in the first nine months of 2025, Unitree’s total revenue jumped to RMB 1.15 billion (USD 166.7 million). A person familiar with the matter told 36Kr that, including the fourth quarter, a peak season for robot sales, Unitree’s full-year 2025 revenue was close to RMB 2 billion (USD 289.9 million).
Those revenues translated into product shipments. In 2025, Unitree sold more than 18,000 quadruped robots and 5,500 humanoid robots, including the H1 and G1.
According to 36Kr, one reason for the jump in sales and the return to profitability in 2025 was Unitree’s decision to capitalize on the attention created by the Lunar New Year gala. The visibility generated by the event appears to have translated into sales, while also broadening awareness of humanoid robots in consumer-facing scenarios such as commercial performances and exhibition guide services.
Outside the consumer market, Unitree had already built a more stable shipment base. According to the prospectus, its robots are deployed mainly in two areas. In industrial settings, they are used primarily for inspection and surveying, firefighting and rescue, and public services. In the consumer market, they are used mainly in scientific research and education.
Components have also become a meaningful contributor to revenue. In the first three quarters of 2025, Unitree’s components business contributed more than RMB 60 million (USD 8.7 million) in revenue. In 2022, that business at one point accounted for 18% of its total revenue.
Taken together, Unitree’s roughly 60% gross margin appears to rest on two things: tight cost control and a sharp increase in revenue in 2025. More specifically, it benefited from exposure tied to the Lunar New Year gala, steadier demand in its core markets, and an additional revenue stream from components. That combination may also help explain why the company returned to the gala this year.
KrASIA features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This article was written by Qiu Xiaofen for 36Kr.
Note: RMB figures are converted to USD at rates of RMB 6.90 = USD 1 based on estimates as of March 25, 2026, unless otherwise stated. USD conversions are presented for ease of reference and may not fully match prevailing exchange rates.