Recently, Orbbec's founder, Huang Yuanhao, made a bold public statement, asserting that the number of robots in the future will surpass that of humans, with growth projected to be in the thousands, or even millions, of times. By 2050, the market size for robots is expected to reach tens of billions of units.

Behind this projection lies the anticipation of fresh growth opportunities for the optical industry. Traditionally, optical companies have primarily focused on the application of core components such as lenses, lasers, and sensors in fields like communications, displays, and healthcare. However, with the intelligent transformation sweeping through the robotics industry, the value of optical technology is undergoing a redefinition.

At the conference, Huang Yuanhao underscored the importance of platform-based enterprises capable of providing key common visual technologies. He noted that as the industry transitions from automation to intelligence and from robotic arms to embodied intelligence, such enterprises have become an industry necessity.

Founded in 2013, Orbbec has capitalized on its over two-decade experience in the optical field to keenly grasp the pulse of industrial transformation and swiftly make its foray into the robotics arena. Currently, Orbbec commands over 70% market share in the 3D vision sector for domestic service robots and commercial and industrial mobile robots in South Korea.

This market dominance is directly mirrored in the company's financial performance. In the first three quarters of 2025, Orbbec reported revenue of 714 million yuan, marking a year-on-year increase of 103.5%. Net profit attributable to shareholders and net profit after deducting non-recurring items stood at 108 million yuan and 68.57 million yuan, respectively, both successfully turning losses into profits year-on-year.

Huang Yuanhao attributes this success to the company's cultivation and strategic positioning of innovative business scenarios over the years, coupled with the rapid development of various downstream AI end-side application fields.

Currently, Orbbec is accelerating the construction of a robotics and AI vision industrial platform. To achieve this ambitious goal, comprehensive breakthroughs in optical technology are imperative. It is understood that Orbbec has successfully developed and mass-produced five generations of depth engine chips, three dToF photosensitive chips, and two iToF photosensitive chips.

Moreover, Orbbec has mastered key underlying technologies such as chips, optics, and algorithms in its technological layout. It also boasts a comprehensive technological roadmap encompassing structured light, iToF, binocular vision, dToF, Lidar, and industrial 3D measurement.

Faced with the immense opportunities in the robotics industry, the competitive strategies of optical companies are undergoing profound transformations. They are no longer content with being mere hardware suppliers but are striving to become industry rule-setters through ecosystem construction.

In recent years, Orbbec has forged stable ecological cooperation with international giants such as Microsoft, NVIDIA, and AMD. This has been achieved by integrating into the Mac ecosystem, accessing the NVIDIA Isaac platform, and collaborating with partners to release multiple developer ecosystem kits and solutions.

Despite significant advancements in optical technology within the robotics field, achieving human-level visual capabilities still presents long-term challenges. Huang Yuanhao estimates that it will take another 15 years of technological breakthroughs for robots to possess eyes and brains comparable to those of humans.

As the era of large-scale robot industrialization looms, the role and positioning of optical companies are also undergoing transformation. The competitive landscape of the future optical industry is poised to accelerate its reshaping.