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Author / Robot Panda
Hello everyone,I am Robot Panda.
This year, several domestic humanoid robots have successively landed on e-commerce platforms like JD.com, with prices ranging from 60,000 to nearly 700,000 Yuan. This is the first time humanoid robots have appeared in the consumer market asclearly priced products.
However, with almost zero sales and reviews on the platform, a core question arises:Can humanoid robots really sell?
「 01 」Price Gradients Emerge, Lowering the Entry Barrier
For a long time, humanoid robots were high-end products that were “visible but not purchasable,” with total costs often reaching hundreds of thousands or even millions of Yuan.
However, on the JD.com platform, the current prices have shown a clear gradient:
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60,000~100,000 Yuan: Mainly educational, wheeled, or simplified versions, primarily aimed at programming education and demonstration needs;
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100,000~300,000 Yuan: The current mainstream price range, mostly bipedal robots with certain interactive capabilities and research purposes;
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400,000 Yuan and above: High degrees of freedom and complexity models aimed at research and industrial experiments, still in the high-price range.
This distribution structure indicates that domestic humanoid robots are undergoinga transition from customized display items to standardized products. Manufacturers are gradually lowering entry prices through modular components, simplified mechanical structures, and “educational/display versions.”
「 02 」Diverse Product Versions, Limited Market Feedback
A notable trend is that manufacturers generally adopt a multi-version strategy.
Often, the same model is released in “basic,” “educational,” and “research” versions, with price differences reaching tens of thousands of Yuan. This strategy essentiallymatches different customer budgets and application scenarios through price gradients.
However, data from JD.com also reveals another reality:
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Most products show zero sales
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There is little user interaction in the comments section
There are three key reasons behind this:
The purchase barrier still exists: Even products priced at 60,000~100,000 Yuan are still not easily consumable for individuals and small institutions.
The application value is not yet clear: Most potential customers find it difficult to determine “what specific problems the robots can solve,” and the usage scenarios are vague.
The service system is not yet complete: Supporting systems such as training, remote maintenance, and parts supply chains are still in the early stages, limiting purchase willingness.
In other words, the question of whether humanoid robots can be “purchased” is being addressed, but the question of “why buy” remains unanswered.
「 03 」Listing on E-commerce Platforms is More of an Industry Signal
From an industry perspective, listing on JD.com may not be aimed at immediate sales, but rather serves as a form of “dual probing”:
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For manufacturers, this is a showcase window for the commercialization process. Through platform exposure, they can validate pricing strategies, observe potential customer feedback, and signal production capacity to the industry chain and capital markets.
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For the platform, this is a preemptive layout for emerging categories. Even with limited short-term sales, the platform still hopes to complete the “positioning” of humanoid robots as a potential consumer category in advance.
Therefore, the listing of humanoid robots on JD.com is more aboutmarket education and industry pressure testing, rather than immediately converting to large-scale sales.
「 04 」Price is Not the Key, Scenarios are Core
Recently, some companies like Zhongqing and Yushu have announced new models priced close to 30,000 Yuan, far below most existing models on JD.com. This price approaches the psychological threshold of high-end consumer electronics, indicating that there is still room for price reduction in the future.
However, the core factor determining whether they can truly sell is not price, butapplication scenarios and service capabilities:
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Can they undertake stable production or experimental tasks?
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Can they integrate into replicable applications such as education and demonstration?
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Do they have a complete training, maintenance, and upgrade system?
Only when humanoid robots transition from “display products” to “usable tools” can e-commerce platforms truly become sales channels.
In conclusion:
This wave of “listing” on JD.com has strong symbolic significance: humanoid robots have entered the public eye for the first time in a consumerized form.
However, from the reality of zero sales, the market’s acceptance remains limited.In the short term, they are unlikely to sell well; whether they can take shape in the long term depends on whether the industry can solve the issues of application scenarios and service systems.
In other words, the decline in price is just the prologue; what truly determines the future is who can make humanoid robotsmore like tools, rather than just products.
END
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