Robots Sold by Subscription Grow 75 Percent

Geek+ has reported interim 2026 results with newly signed orders of RMB 2.385 billion, up 35.5 percent year on year, on revenue of RMB 1.284 billion, up 25.3 percent. Gross margin improved to 35.8 percent from 35.1, and adjusted net loss narrowed 32.1 percent to RMB 60.6 million, with a core business loss of RMB 16.1 million excluding research and development. Subscription-based service orders reached RMB 156 million, more than 75 percent up year on year, and subscription orders in the Americas rose 455 percent. The company says it has deployed 81,000 robots globally across more than 1,000 end customers in over 40 countries, including more than 85 Fortune Global 500 companies, with non-domestic revenue above 75 percent of the total at an international gross margin of 46.2 percent. Pallet-to-person orders grew over 200 percent and manufacturing-scenario orders over 600 percent, on a customer repurchase rate of 80 percent.

The subscription growth is the number with consequences, and the reason is that it changes who can buy warehouse robotics. A conventional deployment is a capital project: a large up-front payment, a multi-year depreciation schedule, and a commitment to a throughput forecast made before the system exists. That structure excludes anyone whose volumes are seasonal, whose lease is shorter than the payback period, or who simply cannot get capital approval — which is most of the mid-market. Renting robots by the month converts the decision into an operating expense that scales with the business, and the 455 percent growth in the Americas suggests it is the financing rather than the technology that had been the constraint there.

The 80 percent repurchase rate is the figure to weigh against the loss. In a market with many well-funded entrants, the meaningful question is not whether a vendor can win a first deployment — discounting will do that — but whether customers extend after living with the system for a year. A high repurchase rate alongside a narrowing loss is the shape of a business approaching viability; a high growth rate with a low repurchase rate would be the opposite.

For operators considering either model, the trade is worth stating plainly. Subscription removes capital risk and transfers technology risk to the vendor, who now has an incentive to keep the fleet current because they own it. It also means the robots leave if the contract ends, the total cost over five years is higher than buying, and the operational dependency on a single supplier is deeper — the warehouse cannot run its own spares strategy for equipment it does not own. The 600 percent growth in manufacturing-scenario orders is the more interesting signal for industrial readers: these systems were built for e-commerce fulfilment, and the constraints of a production line — fixed takt, sequencing, and an existing MES that expects parts at a station at a time — are a materially harder problem than picking to a tote.