Humanoid Robot Boom Boosts Cobot Supply

A ramp-up in humanoid robot production is creating a new source of demand for collaborative robot (cobot hardware, with shipments to humanoid manufacturers expected to surge more than eightfold this year.

That’s according to a report from Interact Analysis, a U.K.-based industrial automation and robotics market research firm with offices in the U.S. and China. The report found global cobot shipments will jump from 5,000 units in 2025 to more than 43,000 in 2026 as developers increasingly turn to established hardware developers rather than building all components in-house.

“Many humanoid manufacturers are prioritizing software and application development, making it attractive to source mature hardware,” Mike Yang, a market analyst at Interact and one of the report’s authors, told TechTarget AI and Emerging Technologies. “Demand for cobot arms is growing across factory and logistics applications, where reliability and repeatability are critical, as well as for rapidly scaling research and data-collection applications.”

The most direct beneficiaries, according to Yang, are suppliers of complete cobot arms for humanoid robots and joint actuators.

“Complete seven-axis arms offer humanoid OEMs mature force control, reliability and production-ready hardware, while actuator suppliers support customers pursuing in-house assembly,” he said. “The sourcing mix will vary, but both segments should benefit as humanoid production scales.”

China’s supply-chain advantage

China is expected to account for most cobot supplies to humanoid manufacturers, due to both the country’s position as a hub of humanoid production, as well as the relative closeness between robot makers, cobot suppliers and component manufacturers.

Humanoids could reshape the cobot market

While revenues from humanoid applications remain modest in the near term, Interact estimates they could eventually add 10% to 30% to cobot vendors' revenues by 2030.

Cobots vs. humanoids

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