At this year’s Appliance & Electronics World Expo (AWE), no concept drew more attention—or sparked more debate—than embodied intelligence.
From robotic arms that cook to vacuums that grip, the Shanghai expo became a stage for consumer electronics and appliance brands eager to reframe themselves as robotics companies. Dreame, for example, unveiled a dual-arm air conditioner with 126-degree airflow, while Fotile’s ACS 2.0 panoramic cooking system featured a robotic arm capable of cooking over an open flame—entirely unattended.
But robotic arms are just the entry point. As embodied intelligence technology matures, appliance makers are trying to reinvent themselves as robotics players. At the same time, robotics companies are eyeing a move into the home.
Haier’s Qingdao-based robotics subsidiary recently partnered with Robotera to co-develop service robots for smart home scenarios. Dreame, for its part, used the expo to announce its move into major appliances, unveiling a full lineup that includes air conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines, and kitchen devices.
The buzz isn’t limited to white goods. Consumer electronics firms are joining in, too. According to Jiemian News, Anker Innovations is actively building out its robotics arm. It’s developing vacuum robots and plans to expand hiring for quadruped and humanoid units.
The real surge began after Unitree Robotics’ humanoid robots went viral. But beneath the flurry of announcements, a common pattern has emerged: many companies remain vague about what kind of robotic products they are actually aiming to build.
For now, robotic arms have become standard features in the latest wave of 2025 vacuum robots. And building a humanoid robot has become a shared aspiration across the appliance sector.
This isn’t the first bandwagon—and it won’t be the last. Embodied intelligence, like any tech trend, will eventually lose some steam. Before that happens, it’s unlikely any appliance brand will deliver a true, working humanoid.
Breakthrough tech, or just incremental hype?
Unitree’s performance during this year’s Lunar New Year gala gave the field a national spotlight. Embodied intelligence is now framed as the next big wave after large language models.
At its core, embodied intelligence refers to artificial intelligence with a physical form—capable of sensing and interacting with the world. Unlike traditional industrial robots, which follow preset instructions, these systems perceive their environment using vision, touch, and other sensors, enabling more adaptive, humanlike behavior.
“A robotic vacuum already shows basic embodied intelligence,” a robotics expert told 36Kr. “It needs to perceive its environment, locate targets like trash, plan movements, and interact. Architecturally, it’s similar to a humanoid robot—the difference is complexity.”
This gives vacuum robot makers a natural foothold.
At the recent AWE, Dreame launched a robotic vacuum with a mechanical arm and tool bay. It can autonomously select and use cleaning tools via a decision-making core. The bionic hand features five degrees of freedom (DoF) and a 33-centimeter reach—enough to grasp items under 500 grams.
To break it down: the five DoF simulate the shoulder, elbow, wrist, and fingers, allowing for lifelike rotation and movement. With a reach covering about half an adult arm, it can grip objects up to 6cm wide and 400g in weight—about the size and heft of a soda can.
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Adding manipulators expands what vacuums can do—but rivals are catching on quickly.
Roborock recently introduced the G30S vacuum, equipped with a five-axis foldable hand that can identify and remove obstacles like socks or cables mid-clean. Yunji Technology’s “UP” robot offers on-the-fly tool swapping, enabling it to pivot between cleaning, delivery, and other functions.
Industry insiders say the bar for developing robotic arms has fallen fast. Even advanced six-DoF models are now commercially available, lowering the barrier to entry and intensifying competition.
But in some cases, the rush has outpaced real utility. Demo videos showing vacuums picking up socks or bits of trash have been ridiculed by users as gimmicks—flashy tricks to justify steeper price tags.
Still, not everyone sees this as marketing fluff. A research note from Kaiyuan Securities suggests vacuum-mounted arms will continue to evolve. With better hardware and smarter AI, they could eventually climb stairs, clear larger obstacles, and handle objects like toys or stools. Eventually, they might fold clothes or even slice vegetables.
From vacuums to household service robots
Outfitting vacuums with robotic hands may look flashy, but for many brands, it could be a strategic move.
After a stretch of aggressive growth, the vacuum robot market is showing signs of fatigue. Upgrades have become incremental, marketing spend is climbing, and margins are feeling the squeeze.
Both Ecovacs Robotics and Roborock saw earnings drop last year. Ecovacs’ Q3 net profit fell 69.2% year-on-year to RMB 6.04 million (USD 845,600), while Roborock’s declined 43.4% to RMB 351 million (USD 49.1 million), even with rising revenue. Both firms are now spending over 20% of their revenue on sales and marketing.
“There’s no major technical gap among vacuum brands right now,” a robotics engineer said. “They are all trying to one-up each other to grab consumer attention—but a lot of it feels like innovation for innovation’s sake.”
According to IDC, 20.6 million robotic vacuums were shipped globally in 2024, up 11.2% from the year prior. But growth slowed to 7.8% in Q4, signaling that demand may be cooling.
This has pushed brands to explore new revenue streams. Household service robots—built around robotic arms—are one of the more promising directions.
Appliance makers are just as eager. With core innovations reaching a plateau, the pressure to adopt new technologies has grown. Whether or not they are viable, missing the trend isn’t an option.
Midea recently unveiled its first full humanoid robot and launched a dedicated innovation center. It claims progress on components like sensors, reducers, and controllers.
In public demos, Midea’s humanoid robot can shake hands, dance, form heart gestures, hand over water bottles, open caps, and use screwdrivers. It also responds to voice commands.
Crucially, Midea has experience to draw from. In 2017, it acquired Kuka, one of the world’s top industrial robotics firms—giving it a head start in both capital and expertise.
But building industrial-grade humanoids isn’t cheap. Depending on the spec sheet—reach, payload, precision—units can range from five- to six-figure RMB sums.
Unitree has partly risen to prominence by pushing that ceiling down into the five-figure range. If humanoids are to become mass-market home products, affordability will be key.
Haier, in addition to partnering with Robotera, recently became the controlling shareholder of Step Electric, an industrial robotics company—a clear signal of long-term ambition.
More companies are expected to join the embodied intelligence rush. Whether any will break through remains to be seen. But for now, this arms race—literal and figurative—is far from over.
KrASIA Connection features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This article was written by Leslie Zhang for 36Kr.