Nachdem 100 Millionen auf der Spring Festival Gala aufgetreten sind, führen Wang Xingxing und seine Art weiterhin ein elendes Leben.

From kung - fu training and walnut turning to clothes folding and goods collection in household and retail environments: The euphoria around the four humanoid robot companies that appeared together at the Spring Festival Gala concert continues.

According to data from JD, the search volume for robots on JD increased by over 300% compared to the reference value in the first two hours after the start of the Gala concert. The number of inquiries to customer service increased by 460%, and the order volume rose by 150%. The robot rental market also experienced a lively Spring Festival season.

An employee from the robot rental industry told us that this was the busiest year in his career. After the Spring Festival Gala concert, both the number of inquiries and the number of signed contracts were higher than expected. The peak season continues: “We expect that the situation where we have to handle three or four events daily will last until the end of March.”

As a nationally watched event, this year's Spring Festival Gala concert has not only helped more people know what a robot looks like, but also what a robot can do. During our visits to the Spring Festival consumer market in Nanjing, we found that the robots working in shopping malls and tourist attractions are surrounded by people. The discussions have changed from “This robot is so impressive” to “What do you think of buying such a robot for home?”.

A robot dog in a tourist attraction. Photo: Author

This is the spiritual imprint and brand association that the Spring Festival leaves on all people. But behind the hustle and bustle of high traffic, Chinese humanoid robot manufacturers expect an even tougher elimination game in 2026.

1. The open strategy of the Spring Festival Gala concert: Three advantages at once

As previously reported by Caixin, each of the robot companies that appeared at this year's Spring Festival Gala concert has invested 100 million yuan in the event. Even after the elaborate performance at the Gala concert, many people are still discussing a central question:

Was this investment really worthwhile?

If you look at the question from the perspective of short - term accounting, not all companies can afford such sums. 100 million yuan is approximately a quarter of Ubtech's annual research and development expenses.

But if you consider aspects such as financing, personnel recruitment, and competition, the 100 - million - yuan investment is more of a deliberate strategy for many robot manufacturers, and this calculation cannot be simply based on ROI.

As Jiang Zheyuan, the founder of Songyan Dynamics, said: “The Spring Festival Gala concert is an amplifier. If you do it well, you'll become famous overnight. If you do it poorly, you'll just be a laughingstock.”

First: Spending money serves better financing. An employee from the humanoid robot industry told us that the financing conditions in the industry had significantly improved after Unitree's appearance at the Spring Festival last year. After this year's Spring Festival, the euphoria continued, and companies could continue to raise funds. “It seems that the pie has become bigger.”

Robot kung - fu performance at the Spring Festival Gala concert

The financing boom at the beginning of the Year of the Horse confirms this. Both Zhipingfang and Qianxun Intelligence have each completed a new round of financing of over 1 billion yuan. The “Billion - Dollar Club” among Chinese humanoid robot manufacturers has expanded again.

According to incomplete statistics from Silicon Base Research Lab, six companies have gathered in the “Billion - Dollar Club” so far: Unitree Technology, Zhipingyuan Robotics, Galaxy Universal, Xinghaitu, Zhipingfang, and Mech - Mind Robotics.

Therefore, experts regard the Spring Festival Gala concert as a major roadshow for humanoid robots. Companies preparing for an IPO can now take this step more confidently. Companies that still want to raise capital in the primary market now have more confidence.

Second: Spending money serves better personnel recruitment.

After the Spring Festival, it is the ideal time for personnel recruitment. Companies like Songyan Dynamics have started a new round of competition for qualified personnel. In addition to a large number of business development (BD) job openings, positions for algorithm and hardware experts are also advertised. The association with the “Spring Festival Gala concert” is a new means to attract talents.

Most importantly, however, is the race for technological and brand - related presence in people's minds.

Although the presence in people's minds seems rather abstract, it is actually the differentiated positioning of manufacturers in the competition. If you look at the PR activities of the four manufacturers after the Spring Festival Gala concert, you will find that the race for robot brand positioning has already begun.

• Galaxy Universal focuses on telling the story of “not only for performance but also practical use”. At the Spring Festival Gala concert, it demonstrated behaviors such as walnut turning, glass shard collection, clothes folding, sausage grilling, and goods collection from storage racks.

• Unitree, a three - time participant in the Spring Festival Gala concert, mainly shows the technology behind the performances. For example, Wang Xingxing talked about the ability of rapid positioning and the limits of mobility. Many industry insiders mention the ability to overcome obstacles and the two - step wall - climbing in Unitree's performances, which not only demonstrate its precise force control again but also drive the race for robot dances in the direction of interaction with the real environment.

• Songyan Dynamics wants to claim the leading position as a manufacturer of “consumer robots”. Therefore, it decided to appear in a sketch show to obviously promote the sales of its consumer robots in the sub - million - yuan price range.

• The young company Magic Atom shows more of its comprehensive strength. It has strived to rise to the first league and has not missed any opportunity, whether it's dancing or serving noodles and dishes.

From financing and personnel recruitment to positioning in people's minds, the Spring Festival Gala concert is a business that brings three advantages at once for humanoid robot manufacturers.

2. Stockpile resources and stay in the game

It doesn't matter whether a company appeared at the Spring Festival Gala concert or not.

But outside the spotlight, efforts in financing, personnel recruitment, and positioning serve to stockpile resources for 2026 to continue to participate in the competition.

Morgan Stanley recently raised its forecast for the sales volume of Chinese humanoid robots in 2026. It is expected that the sales volume will increase by 133% to 28,000 units this year. At the same time, it is assumed that commercial sales in 2026 will take over the role of sales to governments, universities, and for entertainment purposes, which dominated in 2025.

Although it is a national - level opportunity, it doesn't mean there are no bubbles. The year 2026 will be a crucial elimination game for Chinese companies in the field of Embodied Intelligence.

The first challenge is the cash - flow situation.

Since 2025, a number of companies in the field of Embodied Intelligence have come to an end. Foreign companies such as K - Scale Labs, Cartwheel Robotics, Aldebaran, and Rethink Robotics, as well as Chinese companies such as CloudMinds and Yixing from the Geely Group, are in trouble for similar reasons.

Robot research and development requires huge investments, the mass - production roll - out is slow, and it takes a long time to recoup the investments. If the financing is interrupted, a collapse looms. This is how Han Fengtao, the founder of Qianxun Intelligence, described it:

“The year 2026 in the field of Embodied Intelligence will be very similar to the year 2023 in the field of Large Language Models. If you can't raise enough money and your model performance is not among the top groups, you have no chance to stay in the game.”

From storytelling to accounting: Regardless of whether robot companies strive to increase sales volume or present confirmed orders, they must ultimately do the cost - accounting. So far, only Unitree is a company that has publicly reported its profit results and cash - flow situation. If the market is recognized, the increasing scale of deliveries will actually challenge the cash - flow situation of companies. More robot companies must avoid getting into the situation of “losing money on every sale”.

Second: Fiercer local battles.

If the Spring Festival Gala concert was a local battle on the stage, robot companies will fight even fiercer local battles in real business scenarios in 2026.

A typical scenario is the consumer robot market.

Previously, there was Xiaobumi from Songyan Dynamics, which was available for less than 10,000 yuan. Now, Shangwei Qiyuan has introduced the world's first personal robot Q1. The cost - effective and lightweight consumer robots will surely play a role in the new round of competition in the B and C markets.

Comparison of the world's first personal robot Q1 with a human. Source: Video frame

As consumer robots in the sub - million - yuan price range penetrate into private households, educational, and research institutions at an accelerated pace, the performance of this new product category will be tested. The actual sales volume, return percentage, and user evaluations will become visible. The industry will surely undergo a visible restructuring.

It must be noted that the turning point for the mass application and implementation of robots has not been reached yet. Based on both direct sales volume and scenario confirmation, orders, and supply chains, the expectation for the year of commercialization is being pushed further back.

In the view of many industry insiders, although it is important how many robots are sold, it is even more important how the synergy effect between models, data, and scenario services is created in the real world after the sale.

3. New divisions have emerged

Regardless of whether it's about establishing a brand perspective or pursuing long - term goals: When the waves of high traffic recede after the Spring Festival Gala concert, those swimming without swimsuits will become visible, and new divisions have emerged.

If you were to choose a keyword for the robot industry in 2025, “charging forward unrestrainedly” might be the most appropriate. A large number of star companies, huge financings, various exciting demos, and alliances between different levels of the value - creation chain have raised the expectations for the industry. Concepts such as the year of mass production and the year of commercialization are constantly being mentioned.

But if you stick to the basic business logic, robots are still typical manufacturing - based products defined by application scenarios. This has two implications:

First: Robots must always return to specific application scenarios and answer the question of what values they can create in which scenarios.

Therefore, robot manufacturers, regardless of whether they adopt the “big and comprehensive” approach with both feet (B and C markets), focus on a specific vertical sector, or take the “safe” path from industrial to commercial and finally to household applications, must answer this central question.

Second: Since they are manufacturing - based products, they need a complete and specialized supply chain and must follow the basic rules of hardware and software integration.