2026 Embodied Intelligence: A Make-or-Break Year. The Era of “Ten-Thousand Robots and Ten-Thousand Applications” Begins, and Capital Decides the Outcome

In 2025, there were two remarkable scenes in the embodied intelligence industry:

One was the highlight of the technological competition. The N2 robot of Songyan Power won the second place in the half - marathon of humanoid robots with a time of 3 hours and 37 minutes. It was the only participating robot that ran completely autonomously without manual traction. The stable motion control ability brought by its 18 high - performance joints was a direct demonstration of the company's technological strength.

The other was the practical breakthrough in commercial implementation. The self - developed "Meiluo" humanoid robot of Midea Group officially started working at the washing machine factory in Jingzhou. It accurately completed the whole - process tasks such as transporting the rear barrel of the washing machine, 3D quality inspection, and equipment inspection. Relying on the "factory brain" and collaborating with multiple intelligent agents, it helped the factory achieve an efficient production capacity of "one washing machine off the production line every 10 seconds", marking a key leap for the industry from "showcasing skills on the stage" to "practical application".

This not only marked the dual breakthroughs in the industry's technological capabilities and commercial implementation but also pushed the industry from "niche exploration" to the eve of "large - scale development", foreshadowing a drastic change in the subsequent competitive landscape.

Meanwhile, the application of robots in the consumer and industrial fields continued to expand. The increasing market demand led to a sharp increase in the number of industry players. By the end of 2025, a clear industry trend had emerged. When 2026 came, this trend officially drove the industry into the "Double - Ten - Thousand Era", that is, "one million enterprises competing and the price breaking through ten thousand yuan". (Data from Tianyancha Professional Edition shows that as of December 2025, there were 1.022 million enterprises in the entire robot industry chain. There were 8,000 enterprises in the humanoid robot body industry chain, and it is expected to exceed 10,000 in 2026.)

In 2026, the market expanded comprehensively, and this life - and - death race driven by the capital flood had fully begun.

Multi - dimensional resonance: The arrival of the "Double - Ten - Thousand Era"

The arrival of the "Double - Ten - Thousand Era" was not accidental but the result of the combined effects of multi - dimensional factors such as competition, price, and financing. Although the "Top Ten Potential Application Scenarios of Humanoid Robots" released by the China Electronics Society outlined broad market spaces in industrial manufacturing, automobile assembly, and 3C production, the influx of a large number of enterprises had made the competition in each segmented scenario tend to be saturated.

From the perspective of the main competitors, by the end of 2025, the number of enterprises entering the embodied intelligence and humanoid robot tracks had increased sharply, covering various players such as technology giants, start - up unicorns, and traditional manufacturing cross - border enterprises.

The "2025 Internet Annual Inventory Research Report" released by Yuehu Data showed that more than 50 enterprises had released more than a hundred humanoid robot products, covering multiple scenarios such as industrial and household use. Leading enterprises such as Zhibot and Leju Robotics ranked among the top in winning government and enterprise procurement bids from Q1 to Q3 in 2025, becoming the core suppliers in the track.

The intensive layout of various players directly penetrated all links of the industrial chain. From core components to whole - machine manufacturing, from scenario implementation to software services, a white - hot competitive pattern had been formed in the entire industrial chain. The competition for survival space between leading enterprises and small and medium - sized manufacturers had entered a close - combat stage.

Only in the domestic track, there were 317 equity financing events in 2025, and the year - end sprint effect was significant.

From the price perspective, the downward trend of industry costs was obvious. Some enterprises had launched entry - level models at the price of ten thousand yuan. Behind the price game was the desperate competition of enterprises to seize market share and the cruel reality of being eliminated if they did not reduce prices.

The scene of relevant robot exhibitions in 2025 was quite representative. Humanoid robots became standard exhibits at the exhibitions. During the "E - TOWN Robot Consumption Festival" held at the same time, more than 190,000 robots and related products were sold through all channels, and the total sales exceeded 330 million yuan.

However, after this 330 - million - yuan sales were shared among many participating enterprises, the revenue contribution of a single enterprise was negligible, which was a micro - cosmo of the industry's dilemma of too many competitors and too few opportunities.

Facing the survival pressure in the "Double - Ten - Thousand Era", industry enterprises were seeking survival by focusing on scenario breakthroughs. Only by accurately implementing scenarios could they lock in customers, which directly determined whether an enterprise could survive the price war and the market share war. For leading enterprises, seizing high - quality scenarios was the core goal. For small and medium - sized manufacturers, they either had to accurately position themselves in segmented scenarios to survive with difficulty or be quickly eliminated by the market due to insufficient scenario adaptation.

Breaking the "Double - Ten - Thousand" pressure: Dual breakthroughs in mass production and scenarios

Under the survival rule of "die without mass production", the industry's mass - production capacity achieved a leap - forward improvement in 2025, becoming the core means for enterprises to break through the encirclement.

With the support of capital, the mass - production capacity of leading enterprises was significantly improved, and the large - scale implementation process in industrial scenarios was accelerated. The value of mass production was highlighted through long - term reliability verification. Among them, Songyan Power had achieved a breakthrough in mass - producing its core models, further consolidating its market competitiveness. Behind these series of breakthroughs was the passive acceleration of the maturity of the supply chain. The process of domestic substitution of core components was accelerated, and cost reduction had become a common trend in the industry. This was also an inevitable choice for enterprises to cope with market pressure and reduce production costs.

The breakthrough in scenario implementation was also urgent. The commercialization path of "industry first, logistics second; commercial use first, household use second" had become the survival track that enterprises were competing for. Yuehu Data also had relevant research on the overall industry trend. At present, the application scenarios had expanded from single industrial operations to living fields such as home services and medical care. The profit models had also become more diverse, including the localized operation and leasing of humanoid robots. The product price had dropped from tens of thousands of yuan to less than ten thousand yuan, and the improvement of cost - effectiveness promoted market popularization.

Image source: "2025 Internet Annual Inventory Research Report" released by Yuehu Data

Image source: "Intelligent Robot Industry Research Report 2025" released by Yuehu Data

Different scenarios had different values. In the industrial field, large - scale scenario implementation could reduce costs. The education, scientific research, and commercial service scenarios, with their rigid - demand attributes, had become important breakthroughs for enterprises to ensure basic survival.

The dual breakthroughs in mass production and scenarios ultimately relied on the support of capital, and the entry of capital also made the life - and - death race in the Double - Ten - Thousand Era more intense.

Capital war: The core booster of the life - and - death race

Under the "Double - Ten - Thousand" pressure, simple technological competition and price war could no longer determine the survival of enterprises. Because mass - production breakthroughs required investment in the supply chain and production capacity, and scenario breakthroughs required long - term operation and verification costs, all of which relied on huge amounts of capital. Capital had become the key variable in determining the competitive landscape.

At the beginning of 2026, there was a small episode in the listing process of Unitree Robotics, the first stock in the field of embodied intelligence. The "green channel" for its A - share listing was suspended, which attracted wide attention from the market. However, the company's listing process was not interrupted and would continue according to the normal process. This episode did not weaken the industry's confidence in the capital prospects. Instead, it made the judgment that "2026 is the first year of embodied intelligence capital" clearer. Jiang Zheyuan, the founder of Songyan Power, also clearly expressed this view in a previous interview, marking the full - scale start of the capital race in embodied intelligence in 2026.

The enthusiasm and differentiation on the capital side further intensified the cruelty of the life - and - death race. Yuehu Data showed that the financing amount of humanoid robots in 2025 increased by 300% compared with that in 2023 - 2024. The financing density was extremely high, and the year - end sprint effect was significant. More than 70% of the procurement projects worth over 100 million yuan were used for scientific research, and technological R & D was the core investment direction in the industry.

Image source: "2025 Internet Annual Inventory Research Report" released by Yuehu Data

Meanwhile, the Matthew effect of capital concentrating on leading enterprises was extremely significant. The problems of difficult and expensive financing for small and medium - sized manufacturers were becoming more and more prominent, further squeezing their survival space.

The entry of capital presented diverse characteristics. Traditional manufacturing giants and technology enterprises were using their capital advantages to make cross - border layouts or bind the industrial chain. The capital support at the policy level was even more crucial. Many places had introduced policies such as industrial funds and special subsidies. State - owned funds had become an important capital backing for leading enterprises, while the advantages of US - dollar funds had weakened, further intensifying the differentiation of the capital pattern.

The profit - making logic of capital had been deeply bound to the survival needs of the "Double - Ten - Thousand Era". The early stage of concept hype was over, and it had completely shifted to the value game of "scale effect + ecological value - added".

This trend had promoted enterprises to accelerate their capital layout. The intensive capital - related actions of leading enterprises had confirmed the industry reality that "capital is the survival pass in the Double - Ten - Thousand Era".

Industrial chain reconstruction: Opportunities and challenges in the life - and - death race

The entry of global giants added another layer of pressure to the life - and - death race. The mass - production plans of humanoid robots of international leading enterprises, with better technology and lower prices as global competition standards, had brought huge impacts to domestic enterprises. Capital was the core driving force for promoting the reconstruction of the domestic industrial chain and helping enterprises break through the encirclement.

Domestic leading enterprises were competing with cross - border giants on the same stage, and segmented players were accurately positioning themselves. Technological innovation had become the key to survival.

The research report of Yuehu Data showed that the industry's R & D was focusing on the integration of "cognitive intelligence + physical intelligence", and humanoid robots were upgrading to autonomous decision - making. The in - depth breakthrough in "spatial intelligence" was the core for future humanoid robots to connect with the physical world. The multi - agent system (MAS) had achieved the collaborative work of robot groups and had been applied in many fields such as manufacturing, medical care, and finance.

Image source: "2025 Internet Annual Inventory Research Report" released by Yuehu Data

He Shaojia, an analyst at Yuehu Data, believed that the explosion point of humanoid robots was far from coming. The launch of the "world model" and its continuous improvement and integration with the VLA large - model would promote a significant improvement in the environmental adaptation generalization ability, autonomous reasoning, and robust planning ability of humanoid robots. By then, humanoid robots would not be limited to commercial performances or simple industrial cooperation but would achieve "comprehending cooperation" in various physical environments.

The policy level continued to increase support. In 2025, humanoid robots were written into the government work report, and the first batch of national standards was established. R & D of core components could enjoy cost subsidies. These policies and capital worked together to support domestic enterprises to break through the encirclement.

Among them, the embodied intelligence technology was in a critical stage of transforming from laboratory R & D to large - scale application, and a technological path of collaborative innovation of "brain - cerebellum - body" had been initially formed.

The life - and - death race in the "Double - Ten - Thousand Era" was promoting the comprehensive reconstruction of the embodied intelligence industrial chain. Specifically:

• In the upstream core component field, the expansion of demand and domestic substitution were the key opportunities. Local enterprises had a window to break through with their cost advantages.

• The competition logic of mid - stream whole - machine manufacturers had completely changed, shifting from technological competition to a comprehensive competition of "mass - production capacity + scenario adaptation". Leading enterprises were gathering resources with their capital and scale advantages, and the industry concentration was steadily increasing. Small and medium - sized manufacturers would either be integrated or struggle to survive in segmented scenarios.

• The downstream application end showed a trend of large - scale and universalization. The leasing model reduced the application threshold, and the market popularity was rising. However, the crowded layout of a large number of enterprises had also made the competition in application scenarios tend to be white - hot. Industrial agglomeration effects had been formed in many places in China, and the industrial chain ecosystem was gradually being improved.

The reconstruction of the industrial chain was essentially the result of the combined action of capital and technology in the Double - Ten - Thousand Era, and it further intensified the life - and - death race in the industry.

In 2026, the Double - Ten - Thousand Era in the embodied intelligence industry will comprehensively raise the survival threshold. The fierce competition among a large number of enterprises and the cruel price war have put every enterprise at the crossroads of survival and elimination. Leading enterprises are promoting the capitalization process, and the speed and effectiveness of capital layout will directly determine the life and death of enterprises.

The intensification of global competition and industry differences have made this life - and - death race full of uncertainties.

(For the original report, please refer to Aurora Yuehu | Chaos: The Beginning of a New Chapter - The "Yuehu Data 2025 Annual Report" is released.)

This article is from the WeChat public account "Wall Street Tech Eye". Author: Hou Yu. Editor: cc Sun Congying. Republished by 36Kr with permission.