Shipments of robot dogs for work surge 260%
One company says lower-priced models are driving revenue growth.
Sales of robot dogs are surging, and buyers in government, manufacturing, utilities and other industrial use cases are responsible for much of the growth, according to research firm IDC in a Sept. 21 summary of its latest report. More than 49,000 four-legged robots shipped worldwide in the first half of 2026, up 92.5% from a year earlier, IDC said, but industry shipments were up 260.5% during the same period and accounted for more than two-thirds of the revenue.
IDC counts more than 19,000 robot dogs deployed for work uses worldwide in the first half of 2026. It ranks Deep Robotics (云深处科技), a Hangzhou maker of four-legged robots, first among industry suppliers, citing its power and industrial inspection and fire and emergency work.
Deep's own filings show where its robots work. From 2023 through 2025, Deep says in its prospectus for a Shanghai stock listing, it sold more than 300 robots for power inspection, used at over 100 substations run by units of State Grid (国家电网) and China Southern Power Grid (中国南方电网). It sold more than 300 to police and security forces and more than 150 to fire and emergency services. Those fields are only part of the 4,195 four-legged and wheeled-legged robots it sold in all over the three years, by our calculation from the prospectus. State Grid was its third-largest customer in 2023 and second-largest in 2024, but not among the top five in 2025.
Sales of Deep's industrial dog, the Jueying X (绝影X), have risen fast: 111 in 2023 and 681 in 2025, at an average of RMB 287,500 (about US$43,000) each in 2025. In the first half of 2026 it sold 541, but the average price fell about a fifth to RMB 228,200 (about US$34,200), according to an updated prospectus filed Sept. 28, as reported by The Paper (澎湃新闻). Deep said lower-priced models bought in bulk made up a much bigger share of revenue.
Sources: IDC, 云深处科技 DEEP Robotics (prospectus, Shanghai Stock Exchange), 云深处科技 DEEP Robotics (reply to Shanghai Stock Exchange inquiry), 澎湃新闻 The Paper, 国际金融报 International Finance News (via 证券之星 Securities Star), DEEP Robotics (Power Patrol Inspection Solution page)
Editor: Ian Lamont
