Chinese silicon-carbide power-device maker BASiC Semiconductor (HKEX: 9971) has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with humanoid-robot specialist UBTECH Robotics to design SiC power stages for embodied intelligent humanoid robots and to deploy those humanoids on the very production lines that manufacture the chips.
SiC power devices for humanoid joints and drive electronics
The partnership pairs BASiC's silicon-carbide MOSFETs and Schottky diodes with UBTECH's humanoid-robot industrialisation know-how to co-develop high-power, high-reliability motor-drive electronics. SiC is prized in robotics for its low conduction and switching losses, giving battery-powered humanoids longer runtime, cooler operation and more precise motion control — all critical constraints as robots such as UBTECH's Walker S2 begin working shifts alongside human factory operators.
Humanoids on semiconductor manufacturing lines
In an unusual closed-loop twist, both sides also plan to deploy humanoid robots on BASiC's own semiconductor fabrication and packaging lines. BASiC's board expects the humanoids to enhance manufacturing efficiency and lower costs in wafer handling, inspection and clean-room material transport, while giving UBTECH a public reference deployment in one of the most quality-sensitive production environments possible.
Positioning around a booming humanoid-robot supply chain
BASiC framed the collaboration as a way to accelerate SiC adoption in what it called an emerging high-growth segment. Analyst estimates from Morgan Stanley project China's humanoid-robot market at $2 billion in 2026, rising to $15 billion by 2030, and Chinese suppliers are racing to lock in design wins as demand from carmakers, logistics operators and consumer-electronics manufacturers scales. UBTECH itself has already shipped Walker S2 units to State Grid, Foxconn, BYD, Geely and Airbus.
Strategic timing after the WRC 2026 humanoid frenzy
The announcement lands in the middle of the 2026 World Robot Conference in Beijing, where more than 150 humanoid launches and dozens of new industrial partnerships have been unveiled during a week dominated by the blockbuster Unitree Shanghai IPO and Xiaomi's own humanoid debut. For BASiC, the deal offers a marquee robotics customer just months after its Hong Kong IPO; for UBTECH, it locks in a Chinese domestic power-semiconductor supply chain as U.S. export controls tighten around advanced components.
Reporting based on coverage from TipRanks, moomoo News, The Globe and Mail and Digitimes.