Hardcore teardown of Unitree G1 robot: gross margin exceeds 40%, supply chain fully exposed, moat lies in top-tier motion control algorithms

Hardcore teardown of Unitree G1 robot: gross margin exceeds 40%, supply chain fully exposed, moat lies in top-tier motion control algorithms

A humanoid robot priced at 85,000 yuan has a cost of only 41,600 yuan after teardown, with an estimated gross margin of 40.7%. But the real moat of Unitree G1 lies outside the hardware.

On March 30, analysts Su Qianye, Sheng Wei, and Yang Shuaibo from Zhongyou Securities' electronics and new energy team released the "Unitree G1 Humanoid Robot Teardown Report", conducting a complete hardware teardown of Unitree's core product G1 base version, analyzing each subsystem from BOM cost and supply chain, and providing gross margin calculations and competitiveness assessments.

The analysts wrote: All core hardware of G1 consists of mature components that can be procured and mass-produced in the industry, without high barriers at the hardware level (the supply chain includes companies such as Intel, DJI, Rockchip, BIWIN, Longsys, BrainPowerTech, etc.); the core source of the robot’s high dynamic movement and stable performance is its self-developed motion control algorithm. Software algorithms are among Unitree's core competitive advantages.

Market Background: Explosive Shipments, Unitree Ranked First Globally

According to the latest IDC report, global shipments of humanoid robots will approach 18,000 units in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 508%, with a market size of about $440 million. The main applications are in entertainment performances, scientific education, and data collection.

Unitree Technology will ship over 5,500 units in 2025, ranking first in global humanoid robot shipments. According to its prospectus, Unitree sold 3,551 units in Q1-Q3 of 2025, with revenue of 488 million yuan and an average selling price of 168,000 yuan per unit, and a gross margin for humanoid robots reaching 62.9%.

Price and Cost: Base Gross Margin 40.7%, High-End Over 66%

G1 is currently Unitree’s core product on sale. The post-tax base version is priced at 85,000 yuan, stands 1.32 meters tall, weighs 35 kg, and has 23 degrees of freedom. The EDU version is priced according to configuration, from 169,000 to 309,000 yuan, and offers up to 43 degrees of freedom.

Zhongyou Securities conducted a full BOM teardown of the base version:

  • Total BOM cost of the complete unit is about 41,600 yuan, with core joint cost estimated at 27,500 yuan (14 small joints x 1,000 yuan + 9 large joints x 1,500 yuan = 27,500 yuan)
  • Including estimated processing fee of 3,000 yuan, total operating cost is 44,600 yuan
  • Pre-tax price is 75,200 yuan, estimated gross margin 40.7%

The EDU version’s gross margin is even higher. EDU standard version (priced at 169,000 yuan) estimated gross margin about 63.5%; EDU advanced version (209,000 yuan) about 66.7%; flagship version C (289,000 yuan) with Instrobot five-finger dexterous hand about 64.8%.

The report notes that the upgrade cost from base to EDU standard does not exceed 10,000 yuan, but the price rises by 84,000 yuan, resulting in a substantial leap in gross margin. The dexterous hand has a significant influence on price—Unitree Dex3-1 force-controlled three-finger dexterous hand (with tactile sensing) is priced at 41,000 yuan, Instrobot five-finger dexterous hand retail price is 22,000 yuan.

Supply Chain: Self-Developed Core, Mature Sourcing

Zhongyou Securities sorted out the G1 supply chain structure:

  • Self-developed: motor, drive board, motion control algorithm; no supplier logo found during teardown
  • Reducer: Meihu Co. publicly stated that its reducer joint module components for Unitree are being mass-produced and delivered as required
  • Cross-roller bearing: Luoyang Baina; supplier logo clearly found during teardown; model CRBT355A 10E4J3
  • Depth camera: Intel; model Intel Realsense D435i; BOM cost 1,869 yuan
  • 3D lidar: DJI; model LIVOX MID360; BOM cost 3,840 yuan
  • Main control chip: Rockchip RK3588S (8nm process), built-in 6TOPS NPU
  • Memory: BIWIN 8G; Storage: Longsys 64G
  • Dexterous hand: Instrobot (main supplier, 1,210 units purchased in Q1-Q3 2025, amounting to 17.2 million yuan, accounting for 96% of external dexterous hand purchases), BrainPowerTech, Realman

The report clearly points out: "All core hardware consists of mature components that can be procured and mass-produced in the industry; individual hardware itself does not have extremely high technical barriers."

Hardware Teardown: Joint, Power, Control, Perception Analyzed

The joint system is the core of G1, with a total of 23 degrees of freedom throughout the body, using an integrated "motor-two-stage planetary reducer-encoder-driver" module with hollow cable routing and compact design.

Teardown of a small joint at the calf: diameter about 60mm, height 70mm, weight 525g. The reducer uses a two-stage planetary gear mechanism with a total reduction ratio of about 20.58. The motor is a low-inertia, high-speed inner rotor permanent magnet synchronous motor; maximum speed 3000–5000 RPM; knee joint maximum torque 90N·m; arm maximum payload 2kg.

The drive board uses permanent magnet synchronous motor vector control (FOC) technology, combined with dual encoders for precise position and speed feedback. Notably, "all chip information is hidden, increasing the difficulty of imitation by competitors"—this is Unitree's anti-reverse engineering design at the hardware level.

Power system: 13-string lithium battery, rated voltage 46.8V, capacity 9000mAh, energy 0.42kWh, weight about 2.5kg, endurance about 1–2 hours.

Control system: Base version uses Rockchip RK3588S; EDU version additionally equipped with Nvidia Jetson Orin NX for 100TOPS edge AI computing power.

Perception system: Head integrates DJI LIVOX MID360 3D lidar (horizontal 360°, maximum vertical 59° full coverage) and Intel D435i depth camera, complemented by four-microphone array and 5W speaker.

Control logic has three layers: perception layer (lidar + depth camera collects 3D point cloud) → decision layer (RK3588 or Orin NX runs deep reinforcement learning algorithms and Unitree RobotWorld Model) → execution layer (CAN bus issues high-frequency commands to each joint for millisecond-level precise control).

Key Conclusion: No Hardware Moat, Software Determines Outcome

The report’s final core judgment is concise and forceful:

"Our deep teardown of Unitree's humanoid robot shows all core hardware is mature, industry-procurable, mass-producible components without extremely high technical barriers; precisely on this general hardware platform, Unitree leverages its self-developed top-tier motion control algorithm to achieve far above industry average levels of dynamic movement performance, stable walking, and adaptation to complex scenes."

From the financials, Unitree’s humanoid robot gross margin fell from 87.7% in 2023 to 68.4% in 2024, then to 62.9% in the first three quarters of 2025, reflecting a slight drop as mass production expands but always maintaining a high level. On the revenue side, sales exploded from 3 million yuan in 2023 to 107 million in 2024, and 595 million in the first three quarters of 2025.

The consumer-grade new product R1 released in July 2025 is priced from only 29,900 yuan, with a total weight of about 25kg, further proving Unitree's cost-control capability. The report believes, "G1 precisely targets commercial leasing and education/research markets, achieving remarkable business success," but "does not meet high-load, high-precision, continuous industrial operation needs—expecting other Unitree models to fill this market in the future."

Four Major Weaknesses: Conservative Thermal Management, Limited Payload, Narrow Space for Weight Reduction, Industrial Limitation

The report gives direct judgments on G1’s limitations:

Conservative thermal management: Mainly passive cooling for the entire unit; only the main control board and hip joint use active air cooling, and the knee joint uses a heat spreader for passive cooling. "Continuous work time is only about 1–2 hours; during high-load operations, joint motors easily overheat and need to be halted for cooling before resuming." The report finds this design "fits Unitree G1's commercial performance leasing and educational research market positioning," but "hardly supports industrial-level continuous operation."

Limited end payload: G1 weighs 35kg; single arm maximum payload is only 2kg. Some high degree-of-freedom dexterous hands weigh more than 1kg (such as Linker Hand L30, single hand weighs 1.2kg), further reducing effective payload space.

Narrow space for further weight reduction: Joint modules account for 49% of G1’s total mass (14 small joints x 525g + 9 large joints x 1,100g = 17,250g). The report calculates that even if the shell and end cap are replaced with magnesium alloy and the output shaft flange with titanium alloy, weight reduction is only 48.7g, or 9% of total joint mass—"weight reduction space is limited." The report expects, "In the future, full-size bipedal industrial humanoid robots will generally reach 50–60kg."

Industrialization requires linear joints: The report points out, "Pure rotary joints have shortcomings in torque density, rigidity, and sustained output under humanoid robot lightweight constraints. Linear joints have advantages in high thrust density, rigidity, and self-locking, making them the best solution for industrial-grade high-load humanoid robots."

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