According to a research report from Guolian Minsheng Securities, with the accelerated industrialization of humanoid robots, the long-term incremental potential of the dexterous hand industry chain is viewed favorably. Automotive parts companies possess strong advantages in customer positioning and mass production capabilities, and their main products share high compatibility with robots. Major manufacturers are entering the humanoid robot sector, and the robot supply chain is expected to have significant overlap with the automotive supply chain. The main views of Guolian Minsheng Securities are as follows:
Global leaders are driving development while domestic innovators are catching up. The development of dexterous hands began in the 1970s, pioneered by Japan's Okada hand in 1974. The 1980s saw the United States and Japan promoting technological integration. Breakthroughs were achieved by Chinese universities in the 21st century. The industry has accelerated over the past five years. Tesla launched its Optimus series dexterous hand in 2022, featuring a more integrated design. It has undergone continuous iterations and is gradually becoming a benchmark in the humanoid robot industry. Domestically, companies such as Unitree Robotics and Lingqiao Intelligence have also launched their own dexterous hand products. Current dexterous hands are evolving towards higher degrees of freedom, tactile sensing, and tendon-driven transmission.
Dexterous hand technology is diverse, but technical pathways are gradually converging. The future of dexterous hands will center on an underactuated architecture for degree-of-freedom design, combined with efficient motor drives (primarily brushless DC and coreless motors), and will adopt a transmission scheme that integrates tendon and linkage mechanisms. This will be supplemented by force sensors and tactile sensors to enhance perception capabilities. This forms a technical system that balances flexibility, response speed, and reliability—a path validated by advanced dexterous hands like Tesla's Optimus and the Shadow Hand, which will enable humanoid robots to perform more natural, precise operations and adapt to a wider range of scenarios.
The market space is projected to reach hundreds of billions, and core component manufacturers are deepening their involvement. The release of the third-generation Tesla Optimus is anticipated in Q1 2026. The firm expects shipments to continue increasing throughout 2026. Elon Musk has projected the potential for mass production reaching millions of units within the next 4-5 years, achieving a market scale exceeding one hundred billion yuan. The dexterous hand is a critical end-effector for humanoid robots. Currently, listed companies in China are deepening their involvement in core components for dexterous hands, primarily focusing on motors, tendon ropes, lead screws, sensors, and coverings.
Investment recommendations are provided from two dimensions: 1. Participant Dimension: Originating in the 1970s, the dexterous hand industry has accelerated over the past five years. Participants mainly include research institutions (dominant in the early industry stage, primarily universities) and enterprises (increasing as the industry approaches scale). The outlook is positive for Tesla's role in leading industry development. Although domestic humanoid robot manufacturers like Unitree Robotics, Zhiyuan, and Xingdong Jiyuan, as well as dexterous hand specialists like Lingxinqiaoshou and Lingqiao Intelligence, started later, they are expected to play significant roles in the future scaling process. 2. Product Dimension: Considering comprehensive value, domestic substitution rate, and market size, the focus is recommended on: 1) Motors: The "power heart" of the dexterous hand, providing direct drive; 2) Lead screws: High technical barriers and significant room for domestic substitution; 3) Tendon ropes: High technical barriers and wide application scenarios; 4) Sensors: A direction for technological upgrade under the trend toward flexibility. These sub-sectors generally exhibit high value content and high-growth characteristics. Companies with strategic positioning advantages in the industry chain are expected to be the first to benefit from the industrialization and volume increase of humanoid robots.
Recommended companies involved in automotive parts and robotics deploying dexterous hand technology include Tuopu Group, Joyson Electronics, Johnson Electric Holdings, Hengshuai Co., Ltd., Fuda Group, Lingyun Industrial Corp., Rongtai Technology. Other companies suggested for attention include Zhejiang Rongtai, Fulaishincai, Daimei Shares, Riying Electronics, Redick, New Coordinate, XinZhi Group, Anpeiron, Zhengho Industrial, Mingxin Xuteng, Nanshan Zhishang,恒辉安防, and Taili Technology.
Risk warnings include: AI technology development falling short of expectations, robot mass production progress being slower than anticipated, hardware cost reduction not meeting targets, market demand being lower than expected, and potential changes in the technological development roadmap.