Explosion of Orders! 100,000 Sets of Humanoid Robot Electronic Skin Land, Giants Join Forces

On February 5th, Folai New Material, a leading company in functional coated composite materials, and Lingxin Qiaoshou, a global leader in dexterous hands, officially signed a comprehensive strategic cooperation agreement. Lingxin Qiaoshou will directly purchase 100,000 sets of tactile sensors (i.e., "electronic skin" for humanoid robots) from Folai New Material. This is the first officially announced electronic skin order with a delivery volume of over 100,000 sets in the industry, marking the official entry of core components of embodied intelligence in China into the stage of large-scale commercial use.

Strong Alliance: Industrial Collaboration Behind 100,000 Orders

Previously, in December 2025, Fulei New Material delivered one thousand tactile sensors to Lingxin Qiaoshou. After verification, both parties deepened their cooperation and finalized a large order of 100,000 units, establishing a long-term strategic partnership.

According to the agreement, the two parties will engage in deep collaboration across three major areas: product development, supply chain synergy, and technical cooperation. The partnership will focus on the construction of dexterous hand technology platforms and the design of integrated solutions, aiming to drive industrial upgrading, refine industry standards, and develop tactile-driven intelligent decision-making capabilities.

As partners, each party holds core advantages, forming a perfect complement.

Fulai New Material: A leader in flexible sensing technology, with profound accumulation in the research and development of flexible sensing materials, production processes, and innovative applications. Its core advantages are concentrated in high-sensitivity tactile sensing, flexible material adaptability, and large-scale mass production capabilities. It has pioneered the concept of tactile intelligent TPU. Its electronic skin products are equipped with "chip + algorithm," achieving a leap from "raw data acquisition" to "intelligent perception," significantly improving the precision and interaction safety of dexterous hand operations.

Lingxin Qiaoshou: Founded in 2019 with a mission to "create all things," the company specializes in an embodied intelligent platform integrating "dexterous hands + cloud-based smart brains." It is currently the world's only company capable of mass-producing thousands of high-DOF (degrees of freedom) dexterous hands, holding over 80% of the global market share for such products. The company's core offerings include the Linker Hand series of dexterous hands and teleoperation systems, which can simulate human hands to perform various intricate operations. It has already built four smart factories with an annual production capacity of tens of thousands of units, reducing delivery times to just two weeks. The total delivery volume is projected to reach 50,000 to 100,000 units by 2026. Recently, Lingxin Qiaoshou completed a B-round financing of nearly 1.5 billion yuan. These funds will be used for core technology R&D and production capacity expansion to further solidify its leading position in the industry.

Race to Breakthrough: Electronic Skin, the "Tactile Nerves" of Humanoid Robots

The landing of this 100,000-unit order signals the accelerating explosion of the humanoid robot industry. Industry consensus has made it clear: the dexterous hand is one of the most critical components of humanoid robots, while electronic skin serves as the "tactile nerves" of the dexterous hand, directly determining the robot's application boundaries and practicality.

Electronic skin, essentially a flexible tactile sensor or thin-film sensor, can mimic human skin functions by perceiving external pressure and tactile changes, and converting physical signals into electrical signals. Currently, it is primarily used in humanoid robot dexterous hands and is expected to gradually expand to other parts of the body such as arms, torso, and face, becoming a core support for robots to achieve human-like interaction.

Mainstream Technology Route: Piezoresistive as the First Choice for Mass Production

Currently, electronic skins cover multiple technological routes such as piezoresistive, piezoelectric, capacitive, optical, and electromagnetic, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. Among these, piezoresistive technology has become the mainstream choice in the current market due to its perfect balance of cost, fabrication process, and mass production scale. Some companies are also pursuing a dual-technology route of piezoresistive + magnetoelectric, enriching application scenarios.

From the perspective of industry technological advancements, domestic companies have achieved several breakthroughs.

On January 15, 2026, Lushan New Materials launched a new generation of iontronic temperature-pressure dual-modal electronic skin products.

In August 2025, Jingzhigan, a subsidiary of Join-Hope, released a robotic dexterous hand full-palm tactile electronic skin (piezoresistive), and simultaneously launched the world's first high-density three-dimensional force full-palm electronic skin solution, achieving full-palm 1450 tactile points + three-dimensional force sensing.

In August 2025, the Chengdu Humanoid Robot Innovation Center released the world's first AI neural network electronic skin, integrating approximately 100,000 high-precision sensing units within an ultra-small area of 1 cm².

In September 2025, SaiGan Technology launched its new attachable, ultra-sensitive, dexterous electronic skin for hands.

Panoramic Layout: Which companies are carving up the billion-dollar cake?

With the explosive demand for electronic skin, domestic enterprises have formed three major industrial clusters in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Greater Bay Area, covering the entire industry chain from sensor manufacturing and material supply to terminal applications. A market dividend of hundreds of billions is being released, with key strategic enterprises divided into two major camps:

I. Core Layout Enterprises in Electronic Skin (Sensor)

Divided by region, the three major clusters each possess unique advantages.

Jingjinji Region: Lingxin Qiaoshou (Leading Enterprise), In-Time Robot, Kunwei Technology, Blue Dot Touch, Agile Robots, StarMotion Era, Soft Robot, Galaxy General, Tashan Technology, etc.

Yangtze River Delta Region: Fulai New Material, Lingqiao Intelligent, Qiangnao Technology, Weichuang Electric, Dingzhi Technology, Zhongda Lide, Zhiyuan Robotics (spun off its robotic arm business to establish "Critical Point" company), Hechuan Technology, Wuzhou New Spring, Unitree Robotics, Aoyi Technology, Hengli Hydraulic, Kepler, etc.

Greater Bay Area Region: Great Union Robotics, Leadshine Technology, Topband Co., Ltd., DIAMOND ROBOTICS, UBTECH Robotics, PASINI, Yihai Yuanshi, etc.

In addition, companies such as Tosee Technology, Juqiao Industry, Hangzhou Huigan Intelligent, Moxian Technology (Dongguan), Suzhou NanoStar Electronics, Haptic (Shanghai), Hubei Huawei Intelligent, Shenzhen Yuejiang Technology, and Linggan Technology (Shenzhen) are also accelerating their strategic deployments, forming a diversified competitive landscape.

Part II. Upstream Materials: Hidden Opportunities in Core Segments

The performance of electronic skin fundamentally depends on upstream materials. Its structure is typically multi-layered, with each layer corresponding to different core materials. Consequently, various new material companies have already begun positioning themselves strategically in this field.

Base materials: Mainly include polyimide (PI), polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), TPU, silicone materials, hydrogels, etc. Among them, TPU, due to its outstanding mechanical properties, strong plasticity, and ability to form composite materials with various plastics, has become a potential material in the era of humanoid robots.

Dielectric layer materials: Aluminum oxide (Al₂O₃), Silicon dioxide (SiO₂), Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), Polyvinylidene fluoride-tetrafluoroethylene (PVDF-TFE), etc.

Conductive materials: Metal thin films, indium tin oxide (ITO), graphene, gallium-indium eutectic (EGaIn), silver nanowires (AgNWs), liquid metals, carbon nanotubes, etc.

Corresponding layout enterprises include Wynca (silicone), Xingye Leather Technology (natural leather, high bio-based recycled leather), Guibao Science & Technology (ultra-thin flexible substrates, conductive silicone), Everwin Precision (flexible boards for fingertip sensors), Cnano Technology (carbon nanotube conductive paste), Anjie Technology (silver nanowire piezoresistive solutions), and Tiinan New Material (polymer composite finishing materials), becoming core beneficiaries in the upstream of the industrial chain.

The 100,000-unit order between FLX Material and Lingxin Qiaoshou is a landmark event, signifying the industry's transition from "concept demonstration" to "large-scale commercialization." In the future, with the gradual implementation of mass production lines by companies like FLX Material, the continuous expansion of production capacity by end-user companies such as Lingxin Qiaoshou, and the ongoing iteration of technology across the entire industrial chain, the cost of electronic skin will further decrease, and its application scenarios will continue to broaden.