Unitree: The "Strangest" IPO Company in History

Can you imagine?

There is a company that is almost a household name in China, yet it spends almost nothing on marketing. In the first three quarters of 2025, its advertising expenses were only 22.57 million yuan.

It has achieved the world's top shipment volume of humanoid robots, but in the first three quarters of 2025, its R & D investment was still less than 100 million yuan.

On the surface, it is a manufacturing company, yet it has achieved a net profit margin close to 35%, almost catching up with Wuliangye.

Putting all these together, you will see a very abnormal combination: low marketing, low R & D, but high growth and high profit.

This also points to a more real side of Unitree: as one of the most attention - grabbing technology companies in China, it is almost composed of a series of "contradictions".

On one hand, there is the most cutting - edge technology narrative and relatively low R & D investment; on the other hand, there is the performance of a high - end consumer goods company and a product stage that is still far from maturity.

At this current stage, humanoid robots are still a long way from large - scale implementation. What really supports this model is not the application itself, but the brand.

It is precisely this pre - established brand potential that enables it to take the lead in achieving "counter - intuitive" profitability in an immature industry.

Revenue of 1.708 billion yuan, a 341% increase

Unitree's revenue growth is almost exponential.

From 2022 to 2024, the company's revenue increased from 121 million yuan to 387 million yuan. In 2025, it directly jumped to 1.708 billion yuan, a year - on - year increase of about 341%.

If you break down this growth, it will be clearer.

First, there is the structure. Quadruped robots and humanoid robots are Unitree's two main revenue lines.

As of the first three quarters of 2025, the revenue from quadruped robots was 488 million yuan, accounting for 42.25%; the revenue from humanoid robots was 595 million yuan, accounting for 51.53%.

That is to say, humanoid robots have become the largest source of revenue.

But the real change lies not in the proportion, but in the growth rate.

In 2023, humanoid robots could almost be ignored, with an annual revenue of only 2.97 million yuan. But in the first three quarters of 2025, it directly reached 595 million yuan.

Behind this is actually a very typical but not so common growth path. For most high - growth hardware companies, revenue growth comes from two things: selling more and selling at a higher price.

But Unitree takes another path: it uses cost reduction to achieve price reduction, and then uses price reduction to achieve a scale explosion.

Taking humanoid robots as an example, in 2023, the average selling price was 593,400 yuan; in the first three quarters of 2025, it dropped to 167,600 yuan, a decrease of about 71.7%.

But more importantly, it is the sales volume. In 2023, only 5 units were sold, and in the first three quarters of 2025, 3,551 units were sold.

That is to say, the core variable of revenue growth has shifted from "unit price" to "quantity".

There are two drivers behind this.

One is the product. The H1 launched in 2023 was more like a "prototype" to verify product capabilities: high unit price and small batch.

The real turning point was the launch of the G1 in 2024. As a medium - sized model, the G1 has a lower cost and price than the H1. As its sales volume proportion increases, it naturally lowers the overall average price and brings the product into the range of scalable sales.

The other is the strategy. Unitree actively lowered the prices of some products in 2025. Behind this is a very clear choice of Unitree:

Use price to increase penetration.

In the early stage of the industry, through more competitive pricing, it accelerates market education, expands the shipment scale, and at the same time, presses down the cost curve, thus locking in the market share in advance.

The same logic also holds for quadruped robots.

From 2023 to the first three quarters of 2025, the average selling price of quadruped robots dropped from 38,300 yuan to 27,200 yuan, a decrease of about 29%;

During the same period, the sales volume increased from 3,121 units to 17,946 units, an increase of about 5.75 times.

You will find that the two product lines are actually repeating the same story:

Sell robots as commodities on a large scale.

In addition to products and strategies, there is another easily overlooked but very crucial variable in Unitree's revenue growth: cognition.

Before appearing on the Spring Festival Gala in 2024, Unitree's overseas business was even better than its domestic business, and the proportion of domestic revenue was only 44.3%. But in the first three quarters of 2025, this proportion increased to 60.8%.

To some extent, the Spring Festival Gala helped Unitree complete a large - scale market education at a very low cost.

It is precisely this brand advantage brought by this unique boost that has become the key for Unitree to achieve "counter - intuitive" profitability.

The contradictions behind the 35% net profit margin

In this prospectus, the most surprising thing is not Unitree's growth, but its profitability.

According to the prospectus data, in 2024 and 2025, the company's non - recurring net profits were 77.5 million yuan and 600 million yuan respectively.

Based on Unitree's revenue of 1.71 billion yuan in 2025, its net profit margin is about 35%.

This figure itself is a contradiction. Because this is not the profit margin of a "start - up technology company", nor is it the profit margin of "manufacturing".

This level is already close to that of Wuliangye. In the first three quarters of 2025, Wuliangye's non - recurring net profit margin was 35.29%.

What's even more remarkable is that in 2024 and the first three quarters of 2025, the company's net operating cash flow was 190 million yuan and 428 million yuan respectively.

This means that it not only has high profits, but also "really makes money".

In a robot industry that has not really achieved large - scale implementation, it has taken the lead in achieving the profitability of consumer goods.

What's even more counter - intuitive is that this profit is not earned by "raising prices".

On the contrary, it is achieved in the process of continuous price reduction.

From 2024 to the first three quarters of 2025, the company's gross profit margin increased from 56.41% to 59.45%.

That is to say, while reducing prices, it is increasing the gross profit margin.

Breaking it down, there are two structural reasons behind it:

One is that the gross profit margin of quadruped robots is increasing, from 51.5% to 55.49%;

The other is that the proportion of humanoid robots is increasing, and the gross profit margin of humanoid robots themselves is still as high as 62.91%.

More importantly, it is its cost - control method.

Unitree takes a very "heavy" path: full - stack self - research of the whole machine + core components.

From motor drive, to mechanical structure, to the whole - body control system, the core links are basically in its own hands.

This brings two direct results: one is controllable performance, and the other is controllable cost.

Furthermore, through self - research and self - production of core components, the company "takes in" the supply chain and forms vertical integration. As the shipment scale expands, its bargaining power with upstream suppliers also increases, and the cost curve is continuously pressed down.

Of course, Unitree's strong profitability also benefits from its extremely low expense ratio. This is precisely the second contradiction in Unitree.

As an almost household - name brand, Unitree spends almost nothing on marketing. In the first three quarters of 2025, the sales expenses were only 76 million yuan, accounting for 6.51% of the revenue; among them, the advertising expenses were only 22.57 million yuan.

The R & D expenses are also very restrained. In the first three quarters of 2025, the R & D investment was 90.2 million yuan, even less than 100 million yuan. In comparison, Yuejiang's revenue in 2024 was 374 million yuan, but its management expenses were as high as 161 million yuan.

Putting all these together, you will see a very abnormal combination:

On one hand, there is a cutting - edge industry with high investment, long cycle and not fully mature; on the other hand, there is a financial structure with high gross profit, low expenses and strong cash flow.

These two should not exist at the same time. But Unitree has superimposed them.

Regarding this "contradiction", perhaps what is more worth thinking about is not the result itself, but the reason behind it:

In an immature industry, why does such a business structure emerge first?

Is this just a temporary accident, or the beginning of a new normal for future industries?

This article is from the WeChat official account "Silicon - based Observation Pro". Author: Silicon - based Jun. Republished by 36Kr with authorization.