Honor Enters the Robotics Era, Humanoid Service Robot Ready to Debut at MWC 2026 Barcelona

JAKARTA - The global robotics industry is entering a new phase. On the Mobile World Congress or Mobile World Congress 2026 stage in Barcelona, Honor is scheduled to introduce its first humanoid service robot. This marks the Chinese company's aggressive move out of the smartphone business comfort zone into the "embodied AI" realm.

Honor, which has been known as a smartphone player, stated its ambition to become a leader in the consumer robotics sector. This step is part of a multi-billion dollar investment initiative focused on the development of artificial intelligence that lives in a physical body and is capable of moving - an approach in the industry referred to as embodied AI.

"This will be our first step in an industry that is experiencing explosive growth," a statement quoted from the report related to the launch.

Unlike many humanoid robots currently designed for heavy-duty tasks in factories or logistics, Honor has chosen a more personal approach. Their humanoid robot is said to be optimized for consumer services, especially to help activities such as shopping assistance and AI-based tasks in retail spaces and domestic environments.

Honor is not alone in exploring the AI realm. Competitors such as Xiaomi and Oppo are also starting to develop AI agents. However, Honor positioned itself as the first major smartphone manufacturer to dive directly into the humanoid segment for consumer services.

Interestingly, the humanoid robot will not appear alone in Barcelona. Honor will also showcase the first prototype of the "Robot Phone", a concept device with a pop-up camera mounted on a gimbal and capable of autonomously tracking subjects. Functionally, this device acts like a mini robot on the table that follows the user's movements - blurring the boundaries between smartphones and autonomous machines.

The momentum of this launch comes as China leads the global robotics race. Data from research firm Omdia shows that global humanoid robot market revenue will jump 500 percent by 2025. Of the approximately 13,000 humanoid robots shipped globally last year, most came from China.

Local companies such as AgiBot and Unitree currently outperform Western competitors in both delivery volume and price. For comparison, the Tesla Optimus robot is estimated to be priced between 20,000 to 30,000 US dollars. Meanwhile, Chinese-made models have entered the market at prices as low as 6,000 US dollars, creating new competitive pressure for Western companies.

Honor is believed to add to the intensity of the competition. With the strength of the smart device ecosystem and a large user base, the company has distribution capital and technology integration that cannot be ignored. If this robot is closely connected to Honor's cloud and AI services, its monetization potential could go beyond just hardware sales.

The key question now is not whether Honor is able to make a robot, but rather how ready the robot is to enter consumers' homes. Will what will be shown on March 1 be a functional prototype that is ready to be commercialized, or just a conceptual vision to entice investors and the market?

The consumer robotics industry is indeed on the rise, but the history of technology shows that hype is not always in line with mass adoption. Honor seems to be aware that differentiation is no longer about the specifications of the device, but rather about how the machine actually comes into being and helps humans in everyday life.

If smartphones are extensions of the hand, then humanoid robots are extensions of the body. And if this ambition is realized, MWC 2026 could be a turning point when mobile phone companies start evolving into AI-based architects of the physical world. The technology world is writing a new chapter - and this time, the characters have legs and can walk.