Efut, abandoned by Midea, is rushing to prove itself.

Source | Yuān Méi Huì The industry leader in industrial robots is facing an unprecedented crisis of confidence. Recently, at the 2024 and Q1 2025 earnings briefing, You Wei—Chairman and General Manager of Efut—outlined two key pillars for the company’s future profitability: (1) enriching its robot product portfolio; and (2) enhancing product margins and profit quality through economies of scale and differentiated offerings. Emerging from Chery Automobile, Efut has been mired in losses since its IPO. Only recently did it see a narrowing of its deficit—bolstered by a substantial government subsidy: grants surged from RMB 63 million in 2023 to RMB 164 million in 2024. Coupled with rising production and sales volumes and partnerships with over 80 “lighthouse” clients, these developments appeared to signal a path toward profitability. Photo Source: Efut’s 2024 Annual Report Yet this glimmer of hope was swiftly dashed by dismal financial results—so much so that major shareholders lost all confidence. Early investors—including Midea Group and Shanghai Dinghui Yuanlin Equity Investment Partnership (Limited Partnership)—began initiating share disposals to cash out. Perhaps seeking to pitch a new growth narrative to capital markets, Efut dramatically shifted its stance on humanoid robots—from earlier statements such as “no humanoid products currently available” and “no applications yet in humanoid mechanical components,” to rapidly unveiling a humanoid prototype, appearing almost desperate. Still, amid intensifying competition from internet giants and major automakers entering the space, can Efut—whose core business remains unstable—succeed by jumping onto the humanoid bandwagon? 01 The Wind Has Shifted It is no novelty for industrial robot firms to enter the humanoid robotics arena. As early as the 2024 China International Industry Fair, Estun—the undisputed leader among domestic industrial robot makers—unveiled its humanoid robot CODROID 01 via its equity-partnered subsidiary Estun Cozto. Likewise, industrial and collaborative robot companies such as Topstar, Inovance Technology, and UFactory have all entered the humanoid space via various strategies. Though Efut’s entry isn’t particularly late, it lags behind peers by half a step. Over the past decade, industrial robotics—a relatively mature segment with established scale advantages—has drawn cross-sector interest from major home appliance manufacturers. Years ago, Midea made a high-profile foray into robotics, acquiring KUKA—the German giant and one of the world’s “Big Four” robotics families—for a massive investment. Gree and Haier followed suit through in-house R&D and other approaches. Now, time has turned: humanoid robots have supplanted industrial robots as the industry’s new darling. Not only legacy and emerging appliance titans like Midea and Dreame, but also the aforementioned robotics firms, are now diving headlong into the humanoid race. This shift reflects slowing growth amid intensifying industry competition. In 2024, domestic industrial robot sales growth fell short of expectations—reaching nearly 300,000 units, up only 4% year-on-year. Meanwhile, demand softened across certain downstream sectors, plunging the robotics industry into fierce price wars. Efut is deeply embroiled in this turmoil. In 2023, the new-energy sector was a critical demand driver for Efut’s robot business—but in 2024, its contribution to total robot sales plummeted from 56% to just 16%. Conversely, general industrial applications emerged as a new key downstream market, with their share of robot sales surging from 20% in 2023 to 47% in 2024.

An unexpected share reduction triggered a sharp stock decline—over 11%—for this robotics company.

On February 11, Efut’s stock plunged sharply. Although the company explained the share reduction as driven by internal funding needs, investors responded by voting with their feet. In fact, the aforementioned shareholders had just completed a prior round of share disposals. According to official disclosures, between November 6, 2024, and February 5, 2025, Dinghui Yuanlin reduced its stake in the company by approximately 1.76%. Separately, between November 12 and December 5, 2024, Xinwei Jishí and its concerted party, Ma’anshan Jishí, collectively reduced their holdings by 2%. From a stock-price perspective, since November last year—when Efut rode the wave of the humanoid robotics “boom”—its share price soared, even registering multiple “20%-limit” daily gains, cementing its status as the “leader” of the robotics sector. It was precisely during this rally that related company shareholders began offloading shares for profit. Public records show Efut is a leading player specializing in the industrial robotics industry, having listed on the STAR Market in 2020. Its core offerings include robotic core components, complete robot units, and integrated robotic system solutions. In the first half of 2024, Efut jointly established Qizhi Robotics Co., Ltd. with the National Advanced Manufacturing Industry Investment Fund and the Wuhu Municipal Science & Technology Innovation Fund. The new venture’s R&D scope includes, but is not limited to: autonomous humanoid robot development, dexterous hand projects, IDE projects, and EBOX projects. A humanoid robot prototype is currently under development, with plans to unveil it in the first half of 2025. Meanwhile, the dexterous hand project is undergoing component-level testing. Logically speaking, Efut’s proactive move into the humanoid robotics arena—leveraging its years of accumulated expertise in robotics—should confer competitive advantages and promise a bright outlook. So why have key shareholders repeatedly exited—essentially abandoning ship? This may well stem from the company’s financial performance. From 2021 to 2023, Efut’s net attributable profit remained negative—RMB -193 million, -173 million, and -47.45 million, respectively. In January this year, Efut released its 2024 earnings forecast, projecting a net loss of RMB 110–160 million—marking a further widening of its deficit. In its announcement, the company attributed the 2024 loss to dual pressures: intensified market competition and shifting demand patterns altering its product mix—which led to a year-on-year decline in robot business revenue; turbulence in Europe’s automotive sector—and the disposal of control over its Brazilian subsidiary at year-end 2023—which caused integration business revenue to shrink; and increased sales and R&D expenditures. Industry insiders point out that, amid escalating competition in the industrial robotics sector, Efut faces mounting pressure from price wars—casting doubt on its prospects. While humanoid robotics sits squarely on the current “hot trend,” its commercialization timeline remains highly uncertain. Moreover, the company must continue ramping up R&D spending—potentially dragging down future performance even further. Additionally, some analysts argue that as an industrial robot manufacturer, Efut faces inherent challenges entering the humanoid robotics field. The most crucial capability for humanoid robots lies in their “generalization” ability—the capacity to extrapolate and adapt flexibly across tasks. Robots endowed with such capability can reason analogically and apply knowledge broadly. By contrast, traditional robotic arms rely solely on pre-programmed instructions—not true cognitive capabilities. On this fundamental dimension, industrial robot manufacturers like Efut hold a clear disadvantage.

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