Gasgoo Munich- Significant developments are unfolding in the dexterous hand industry.
On one front, Tesla's mass production plans for its Optimus humanoid robot were halted last October. The halt was driven primarily by core technical hurdles involving the hand and forearm, leaving Tesla's factories piled up with body shells missing these crucial components.
On the other, Su Yang, co-founder of Lingxin Qiaoshou, suggested last September that the price of a dexterous hand could drop to 500 yuan or less within three years. Its Linker Hand series currently starts at 6,666 yuan.
Similarly, Fourier's FDH-6 dexterous hand—set for November 2025—features a biomimetic design with 11 joints and 6 degrees of freedom, boasting fingertip repeatability of 0.5 millimeters. Yet, its price is just 4,999 yuan.
These three data points reveal a stark contrast shaping the industry: Tesla halted production due to the sheer technical difficulty of the dexterous hand, while Chinese firms aim to slash the price of this supposedly "high-difficulty" core component to 500 yuan—or lower.
So, just how complex is the technology that challenged Tesla? And have the ceiling and floor for dexterous hand pricing finally emerged? Behind the clash of high technical barriers and rock-bottom prices lies an industrial story worth examining.
"Established Firms" and "New Entrants" Enter the Dexterous Hand Market
From the battles in consumer electronics to the rise in new energy vehicles, and now the sweeping wave of embodied intelligence, the rise of every emerging industry relies on the foundation laid by predecessors and the impact of newcomers.
As the core vehicle for "hand-brain coordination" in humanoid robots, the dexterous hand sits at a critical junction where old meets new. The landscape of players clearly maps out the industry's ambition—and its confusion.
Currently, participants in the dexterous hand track form a diverse and complex mix, reflecting differing perceptions and ambitions across the sector.
The first group are the "System Definers," represented by Tesla, Unitree, and Zhiyuan Robotics.
Image source: Tesla's Weibo
These giants or star companies, already robot body manufacturers, view the dexterous hand as an indispensable link in the overall strategy of their "general-purpose robots."
Their logic is top-down: to make humanoid robots true general-purpose laborers in multi-task, unstructured environments, a highly biomimetic "five-fingered hand" with flexibility approaching that of a human is an inevitable choice.
The dexterity showcased by Tesla's Optimus is not just a technology demonstration; it is a declaration of its system integration capabilities and end-to-end design philosophy. These companies spare no expense in pursuit of ultimate performance metrics, because the hand is a key part of their brand and technological moat.
The second category is the "Deep Specialists," companies that cultivated the dexterous hand field long before the "embodied intelligence" craze. Often born from earlier research or specialized needs—such as high-end prosthetics or space robotics—they have endured the long climb from laboratory prototypes to commercial products.
Their core advantage lies in a profound understanding of underlying technology, the ability to self-develop key components (like micro-servo electric cylinders), and engineering experience accumulated in reliability and batch consistency.
These firms have witnessed the transformation from "research luxuries costing millions per unit" to "industrial-grade products costing tens to hundreds of thousands," giving them an intimate understanding of cost structures and technical bottlenecks.
The third group consists of "Opportunistic Entrants"—startups that entered after Tesla's Optimus ignited global enthusiasm for humanoid robots in 2022.
"INSPIRE-ROBOTS has been working on dexterous hands for nearly ten years," Fang Hainan, CMO of INSPIRE-ROBOTS, told Gasgoo. "Most companies currently making dexterous hands on the market have entered the industry for no more than two years, usually doing so in response to the development momentum of humanoid robots."
This is no exaggeration. Yet, it must be admitted that "new entrants" are still exerting an influence that cannot be ignored.
These "newcomers" have keen market awareness and react quickly to capital, often touting disruptive technology or disruptive costs—selling prices in the hundreds of yuan. They attempt to solve the "slow development challenges" of high-end manufacturing with the "rapid iteration" of the internet era. Their aggressive approach is both a strategy to grab attention and a reflection of the urgency surrounding the market window.
Beyond these three core players, the moves of upstream supply chain giants are equally critical. They are optimizing core components—such as micro-servo actuators and precision planetary reducers—originally serving other industries, and actively docking with dexterous hand manufacturers. Their mass production capabilities are the foundation for whether dexterous hand costs can drop by orders of magnitude in the future. Meanwhile, internet and AI giants are also entering from the algorithm and control levels through investment or self-development, attempting to redefine the intelligent connotation of "dexterity."
This landscape is not static; the boundaries between players are blurring.
Body manufacturers may integrate core components downward, specialized companies may move up to provide system solutions, and newcomers are searching for differentiated survival space.
But regardless of origin, all entrants face a common "impossible triangle" straddling ideal and reality, composed of technology, cost, and low end-market prices.
A "Price War" Exists, But It Is Not "Rational"
The "cost trap" is almost the primary obstacle to the popularization of all emerging hardware products.
Behind the "impossible triangle" of the dexterous hand lies a complex balancing act across multiple dimensions.
According to a research report by Huajin Securities, the dexterous hand accounts for about 17% of the entire machine's cost, making it one of the most critical components financially. Taking Tesla's Optimus as an example, a cost breakdown of the whole machine shows the dexterous hand accounts for approximately 17.2%—the largest share.
The core reason for the high cost of dexterous hands is the integration of numerous miniature, high-precision parts inside: multiple micro-servo motors, precision reducers, ball screws, encoders, and complex sensing systems. Most of these components require customization, making it difficult to achieve economies of scale through standardization.
The technological competition in degrees of freedom (DOF) for dexterous hands has risen from the early "10+" to "20+." For instance, the first generation of Tesla's Optimus hand had 11 degrees of freedom, while the third generation has increased to 22.
In this context, domestic companies are also elevating degrees of freedom as a key to product iteration.
Behind the degrees of freedom of a dexterous hand lies a multitude of components. And the cost of these components is not low at the current stage.
"We could also make dexterous hands with higher degrees of freedom, but the side effects are higher cost, higher failure rates, and greater weight. The reason we designed this specific degree of freedom is based on user feedback: it can complete over 90% of human hand activities, and the cost can be brought down to the 20,000 yuan threshold. We believe this is cost-effective. In the future, we may increase degrees of freedom, but we won't compete directly with the human hand," an industry insider from Qiangnao Technology stated in an interview.
Similarly, Fang Hainan told Gasgoo: "A single dexterous hand requires at least six motors, and the lowest price for a motor on the market currently is several hundred yuan."
Regarding the industry voice claiming "dexterous hand prices can drop to 500 yuan within three years," Fang Hainan was direct: cost discussions must return to value parity. Fang did the math: "If a dexterous hand reaches 500 yuan, how much must one motor cost?" This intuitive calculation sharply highlights the chasm between physical limits and commercial promises.
The reason the industry's declaration to "drive prices down below 500 yuan" generated debate is precisely that it has detached from current technology and value anchors.
Cost reduction is a gradual process accompanying technological progress, process maturation, and market scale expansion—not a simple price manifesto.
Regarding the discussion of a "price war" in the current dexterous hand industry, Fang Hainan stated frankly: "Currently, there is a phenomenon of price competition, but at this stage, dexterous hand prices cannot yet influence the market—only value can influence the market."
The challenges brought by a lack of time to mature are obvious, Fang noted. Low-priced dexterous hand products are "rarely seen" by clients, and there are even cases where "they are bought and then basically returned because they don't work."
Fang further analyzed that the root of the current price war in the dexterous hand industry lies in the fact that "products have not truly entered more usage scenarios," and a healthy market logic driven by value has not yet formed.
This reveals an essential contradiction: in the early stage, where technical paths have not converged and application scenarios are far from exploding, is it too early to talk about extreme cost reduction?
Of course, while the road to cost reduction is full of challenges, it is not without a trail.
One path is the innovation and simplification of technical routes—for example, using flexible drives to replace some rigid joints, or using innovative structural designs to reduce the number of motors. Another, more realistic path is to amortize R&D and manufacturing costs through cross-industry applications.
Image source: Screenshot from INSPIRE-ROBOTS' official website
Fang shared INSPIRE-ROBOTS's early cost-reduction strategy: "We applied this (micro-servo electric cylinder) technology to the industrial and medical fields first. Batch reuse in other industries allows us to amortize our costs in the robotics sector."
"Our past experience in industrial and medical fields verified the reliability and stability of dexterous hand industrial applications. The batch consistency of dexterous hands is very high, so the after-sales maintenance cost for client applications is also relatively reduced," Fang said.
"In the past, dexterous hands were called the Patek Philippe of robots," Fang recalled. "In the past, the price of a single hand from overseas companies was hundreds of thousands or even over a million yuan." The reason INSPIRE-ROBOTS was able to lower the price below 100,000 yuan in 2020 lies at the core of its self-developed micro-servo electric cylinder technology, which is considered key to lowering barriers and costs.
Regarding the future price trend of dexterous hands, Fang told Gasgoo that "a 1,000-yuan dexterous hand is reasonable in the future," provided that performance and reliability meet basic functional value, shipment volume is sufficient to amortize costs, and the dexterous hand industrial chain ecosystem is complete enough.
What Ecosystem Future Awaits the Dexterous Hand?
As technological exploration and engineering challenges proceed in parallel, imaginations regarding the final form and industrial landscape of the dexterous hand are gradually revealing several possible paths.
The final form of the dexterous hand will depend on the system in which it is placed and the role we expect robots to play. This is not just a hardware issue, but a top-level design question concerning human-machine relationships and the industrial ecosystem.
Future competition will no longer be an isolated comparison of "hand" performance, but a contest of the entire closed-loop system of "perception, decision-making, and execution."
Image source: Screenshot from Zhiyuan Robotics official website
Drawing on the development logic of the consumer electronics industry, Gasgoo boldly predicts that the development of the dexterous hand industry may move toward two paradigms: one is an "Android" open ecosystem similar to smartphones, where standardized dexterous hand "modules" emerge, allowing any robotics company to purchase and develop based on a unified interface; the other is an Apple-like "closed integration" ecosystem, where the dexterous hand serves as an exclusive core component for the robot, deeply bound to proprietary chips and operating systems to pursue ultimate experience and performance.
This involves a fundamental choice for the industry ecosystem: will the dexterous hand move toward an open standard component model, or will it become an exclusive part in a closed system?
But it is worth noting that, currently, neither pure openness nor closure is likely to appear in reality; a "layered coupling" hybrid ecosystem is more probable.
Head robotics manufacturers will propose deep customization (ODM) requirements for dexterous hands to match their unique designs and technical routes; meanwhile, a large number of small and medium-sized manufacturers or specific scenario developers will rely more on standardized products.
INSPIRE-ROBOTS's judgment is quite representative: "We have both standardized products and ODM cooperation." The future industrial landscape may see a few head enterprises occupying major shares in key fields, but overall, it will retain a certain degree of diversity and openness.
Whichever ecosystem prevails, the value of the dexterous hand ultimately needs to be defined by the scenario. Beyond the current imagination of industrial replacement, its long-term potential lies in becoming an extension of human capability.
Fang Hainan painted a possible future: dexterous hands may become replaceable "consumables" on robots, much like tires.
Conclusion:
The evolutionary journey of the dexterous hand is like a prism, refracting the arduous search of the entire robotics industry between grand visions and practical reality.
On one side is the infinite longing for the embodiment of general artificial intelligence; on the other are the cold physical laws and engineering shackles of cost, reliability, and control precision.
This "hand" revolution has no preset ending.
It may not birth a "dream hand" that perfectly replicates humans, is cheap, and indestructible, but rather, through countless compromises, trade-offs, and innovations, evolve into various "professional hands" with different forms and distinct duties.
For the industry, at the current stage, perhaps more important than blindly pursuing price wars or degrees of freedom races is to settle down, dive into specific application scenarios, understand real needs and pain points, and find the most pragmatic and commercially sustainable balance point within the "impossible triangle."
Capital needs more patience to accompany technology through cycles; entrepreneurs need more awe and respect for the objective laws of manufacturing.
One day, when robots nimbly integrate into our lives and production, people may not care whether it has five fingers or three, or whether it is worth 100,000 or 5,000 yuan.
People will only remember that it was this pair of "hands" that truly turned machines from machines that merely move into partners capable of creating value with us.
And in this war over the "hand," the ultimate winners will be those explorers who understood and realized this the earliest.
