UBTECH and China Telecom's device arm set a goal of 100,000 humanoids in three years, starting with leasing and store pilots
UBTECH signed a strategic agreement with Tianyi Telecom Terminals, China Telecom's device subsidiary, with a three-year goal of 100,000 humanoids and a million home companion robots. The number is written as an industry target; what UBTECH gets now is a consumer sales channel it has never had.
UBTECH has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Tianyi Telecom Terminals, the wholly owned device subsidiary of China Telecom, the two companies said on Nov. 9. Over the next three years they will push the market for ultra-realistic and wheeled humanoid robots past 100,000 units and the market for home companion robots past 1 million, Sina Tech reported. The first steps are smaller: pilots of robot leasing, an "AI services plus device" bundle and demonstration corners in China Telecom's retail stores, according to the 21st Century Business Herald.
Read the wording before the number. Sina Tech and The Paper both describe the goals as the scale of the "terminal industry," and neither outlet reports a purchase commitment or a price. What UBTECH gets for certain is distribution. Its humanoid revenue has come almost entirely from industrial and government customers, the 21st Century Business Herald reported, and Tianyi runs device sales and partnerships for a carrier with stores across the country.
Whether 100,000 is a stretch depends on which robots count
Spread over three years, 100,000 units is about 33,000 a year. Against UBTECH's full-size humanoids that is a leap: it delivered 1,079 in 2025, which brought in RMB 820 million of its RMB 2.001 billion revenue, the 21st Century Business Herald reported, and sold 921 in the first half of 2026, according to The Paper's report on its interim results. Counting every size, it is close to the pace UBTECH already runs at. It sold 16,123 humanoids in the first half, 15,202 of them smaller than full size, The Paper reported, or about 32,000 a year at that rate.
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So the goal is less a test of UBTECH's factories than of China Telecom's counters. It names ultra-realistic and wheeled humanoids, not the factory Walker line. Those are robots a store can demonstrate and a household can lease, the kind of device a carrier already knows how to bundle with a service plan.
The two companies also opened a joint lab to connect UBTECH's voice, vision and affective-computing features with China Telecom's cloud network, AI models, quantum, satellite, security and eSIM services, The Paper reported. UBTECH shares rose more than 14% during the session and closed up 8.99% at HK$70.3.
UBTECH's own timeline points the other way
The hardest objection comes from UBTECH itself. Vice president Jiao Jichao has said publicly that humanoids will reach factories first and that getting into homes will take at least eight to ten years, the 21st Century Business Herald reported. A store channel does not change that clock for full-size humanoids. It does give UBTECH a shop window for the smaller robots it already sells by the thousand.
Sources Sources verified
- 1.The Paper, Nov 9, 2026: 天翼电信终端与优必选达成全面战略合作，目标10万台仿生人形机器人规模化销售thepaper.cn
- 2.21st Century Business Herald via NetEase, Nov 9, 2026: 运营商下场卖机器人，优必选与中国电信订下十万台之约163.com
- 3.National Business Daily via NetEase, Nov 9, 2026: 运营商加码机器人！天翼电信终端与优必选达成合作，共推10万台仿生人形机器人规模化销售163.com
- 4.The Paper, Aug 29, 2026: 人形机器人开始“量利齐升”？优必选上半年全尺寸产品销量921台，营收翻倍m.thepaper.cn
- 5.Sina Tech, Nov 9, 2026: 天翼电信终端与优必选达成全面战略合作，共推10万台仿生人形机器人规模化销售finance.sina.com.cn
- #UBTECH
- #China Telecom
- #Tianyi Telecom Terminals
- #leasing
- #home robots
- #China
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