China put its humanoid robots through a real test of endurance — and the spectacle proved far more interesting than an ordinary technology showcase. The machines competed in running, football and other disciplines.
China’s humanoid robotics industry is experiencing a major boom, but the first public tests have shown that widespread adoption of these machines is still some way off. At the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing, robots fell, crashed into barriers and even caught fire. Investors are already beginning to question whether expectations for the industry have simply become too high.
Shares of robot maker Unitree have fallen by nearly 30% after their spectacular IPO surge, wiping almost $14 billion off the company’s market capitalization. Its market value, however, is still estimated at around $36 billion — more than 400 times its projected annual profit for the first six months of the year.
This raises an obvious question: is China really on the verge of a robotics revolution, or has the market simply moved far ahead of the technology? Based on the latest information from Reuters, the latter explanation currently appears more convincing: production and investment are growing rapidly, while the practical use of humanoid robots remains limited.
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