Shenzhen-based UBTech, a maker of humanoid robots and smart service robots, made its debut on the Hong Kong stock market today with a market capitalization of HK$38 billion.

(UBTech's products as shown in its prospectus.)

Products from humanoid robot maker UBTech Robotics may have made their way into BYD's production lines, local media outlet Jiemian said in a report today, citing supply chain sources.

When asked, Zhou Jian, CEO of the Shenzhen-based robot maker, said he couldn't confirm it, but that the company was already in contact with a number of new energy vehicle (NEV) companies, according to the report.

In 2024, UBTech will announce more about industrial manufacturing customers, Zhou said.

Founded in March 2012, UBTech is a leading humanoid and smart service robot company, according to its website.

The company made its Hong Kong stock market debut today under the ticker symbol 9880, the first humanoid robot manufacturer to list here.

UBTech rose 0.94 percent to HK$90.85 ($11.63) in Hong Kong by the close of trading, giving it a market capitalization of HK$38 billion.

As of December 10, UBTech had more than 900 enterprise customers and had sold more than 760,000 robots, according to its prospectus.

UBTech has the third largest share of 2.8 percent in China's smart service robots and solutions market in 2022.

The company's revenue for 2020-2022 was RMB 740 million ($104 million), RMB 817 million, and RMB 1,008 million, respectively. The figure stood at RMB 261 million in the first half of this year. It has not made a profit so far due to high R&D as well as marketing expenses.

The humanoid robotics business contributed RMB 51.84 million to UBTech's revenue in 2022, accounting for 5.1 percent of total revenue. The business maintained a gross margin of over 50 percent in both 2022 and the first half of this year.

By the end of 2022, BYD had over 570,000 employees worldwide, according to its social responsibility report. The NEV maker is also headquartered in Shenzhen.

BYD sold 301,903 NEVs in November, up 31.02 percent year-on-year and essentially flat from October's 301,833 units, according to figures it announced earlier this month.

The company is expected to announce December sales figures on January 1. It aims to sell more than 3 million vehicles in 2023.

($1 = HKD 7.8114, $1 = RMB 7.1111)

BYD to announce EV plant in Hungary soon, report says