Morgan Stanley Survey: Chinese Companies Require Humanoid Robots Priced Under $100,000 with a Three-Year Payback Period

October 26 - Morgan Stanley's latest survey shows that Chinese enterprises' willingness to purchase humanoid robots is still rising, but the pace of commercialization is slowing down, with cost and return on investment becoming key thresholds. Among the surveyed enterprises, 64% plan to launch humanoid robot pilot or large-scale projects in the next three years, but the deployment timelines for various types of robots have been delayed by about one year overall.

The survey shows that 72% of potential buyers believe the unit price of robots needs to be below 100,000 yuan for widespread promotion to be feasible, up from 53% in 2025; 82% require an investment payback period of no more than three years, with an average acceptable payback period of about 26 months.

In terms of applications, manufacturing and logistics warehousing remain the main deployment scenarios, with prominent demand for material handling, packaging, and palletizing. However, enterprises' satisfaction with existing products has declined, with only 18% of potential buyers expressing satisfaction with the current performance of humanoid robots.

In terms of brands, Unitree Robotics remains the most closely watched integrator, but the proportion of respondents planning to purchase its products in the next three years has dropped from 60% in 2025 to 32%. Morgan Stanley believes that manufacturers capable of demonstrating improved production efficiency, meeting reliability requirements, and achieving clear return on investment are more likely to drive the commercialization of robots.