So, would you be willing to spend RMB 70,000 to buy a “Doraemon without a fourth-dimensional pocket” that offers “tireless listening” and “unconditional acceptance 24/7”?
At last week’s Shanghai Global Developers Pioneer Conference, the spotlight at the CDG Model Speed Space event was stolen by an unexpected star—a round, chubby companion robot. Standing half a meter tall, it winked its large, watery eyes at the audience, charming everyone with its playful demeanor.
This Lovot companion robot from Japan became the most talked-about attraction at the event, with a buyout price of approximately RMB 70,000.
So, would you be willing to spend RMB 70,000 to buy a “Doraemon without a fourth-dimensional pocket” that offers “tireless listening” and “unconditional acceptance 24/7”?
Companion Robots: A Billion-Yuan Market Born from the Loneliness Economy
Urbanization and aging are intensifying emotional needs, and companion robots are emerging as a new intersection of technology and human interaction.
According to market research, the global companion robot market is projected to grow from RMB 75 billion in 2023 to RMB 304.3 billion by 2029, with an impressive annual growth rate of 25.56%. North America, Asia-Pacific, and Europe are the three dominant regions in this market.
Who’s Buying Companion Robots?
Take CES 2025 as an example—Ropet, a companion robot, raised over $1 million in crowdfunding, with 70% of backers being women, mainly aged 27 to 35. Women have become the main consumer group for companion robots. Market research also shows that heavy users of AI companion chat apps (those who engage in over 200 daily interactions or use them for more than 3 hours) are mostly Gen Z women, who have a stronger demand for “emotional connection.”
For single individuals or empty nesters aged around 30-40, who lead fast-paced lives and lack close companionship, companion robots fill the emotional void. They often have financial means but limited time or energy to care for real pets.
Children’s interactive/companion robots are also a key sub-market. Many families buy these robots as smart playmates and educational assistants. Robots like Miko and Embodied’s Moxie are designed for children, usually recommended for ages 5–10. They interact through storytelling, conversations, and games, helping develop social and cognitive skills, and are even used in autism intervention training.
Elderly people living alone or in care institutions also encounter companion robots through their children or government programs. These robots provide daily reminders, health monitoring, and even serve as emotional companions, helping reduce feelings of loneliness. Data shows that older women, especially widowed elderly women, are the primary users who desire emotional companionship.
While female users dominate the emotional robot consumer group, male tech enthusiasts remain an important niche, especially in the early and high-end segments. For instance, nearly 70% of early AIBO robot dog buyers were male, mainly engineers and software developers, who saw robots as exciting high-tech gadgets worth investing in. Despite AIBO’s price of several thousand dollars, this demographic showed both the financial capability and passion to adopt these “electronic pets” for years.
By the end of 2023, Chinese internet searches for terms like “healing” and “therapeutic” surged by 256%. Imagine young people being greeted by a “smart pet” after work, or elderly parents having a companion willing to listen to them during long, quiet days—these scenarios bring emotional warmth. In New York’s ElliQ project, 80% of elderly users said robots made them feel less lonely, and 74% felt their quality of life improved.
These companion robots can initiate conversations, remember users’ habits, and act like always-available friends. Young users already familiar with AI chatbots now find physical robots to be warmer and more engaging. Many female users particularly value this almost human-like interaction, feeling like someone is always looking out for them. For those with limited mobility or older adults, video call features help maintain connections with distant family, easing social isolation.
For some households, companion robots are more than emotional support—they are practical assistants. Robots can remind seniors to take medication, manage schedules, or even send distress signals during emergencies. Some also have home safety monitoring features, alerting family or caregivers when irregularities are detected.
Additionally, companion robots often come with entertainment functions like singing, dancing, and playful interactions, adding fun to family life. Early AIBO buyers also included those who purchased out of pure interest or a love for futuristic gadgets, meeting the needs of consumers seeking a higher quality of life.
The Global Companion Robot Market: Regional Demand Differences and Product Analysis： Each region’s companion robot market is characterized by distinct consumer needs and trends.
North America emphasizes a blend of emotional comfort and technological innovation.
Europe focuses on product refinement and family integration.
Asia (especially China and Japan) combines the demand for emotional warmth with practical functionality, heavily influenced by “cute” pop culture.
In North America, companion robots are driven by both innovation and emotional needs. For example, TCL’s Ai Me serves not only as an emotional companion but also as a smart home controller. Its technical highlights include built-in cameras for Vlog recording, object recognition, and deep voice interaction integration with ChatGPT, positioning it as a multi-functional household device.
In Europe, companion robots are geared toward family settings and refined designs. Mirumi, for instance, features a sloth-like appearance and baby-grade interactions such as hugging and eye contact to create warmth and intimacy. Technically, Mirumi’s use of inertial measurement units (IMUs) for dynamic feedback and low-power sensors makes it suitable for portable use, enhancing family interaction experiences.
In Asia, companion robots fuse cute aesthetics with multifunctionality. In China and Japan, products address both emotional and practical needs. Ropet is a standout Chinese export, leveraging supply chain cost advantages and a “low-maintenance” design as a desktop ornament, lowering adoption barriers and attracting young people and families. Samsung’s Ballie, with its spherical design and role as a home monitoring hub, serves both children’s education and elderly care needs.
The Logic Behind Viral Success: Three Common Traits of Hit Products
As the companion robot market heats up, certain products have quickly gone viral and become cultural phenomena. Their success is no accident.
By analyzing current breakout products, we found three common factors:
1. Emotional Anchor Design: From “Functional Tool” to “Simulated Living Being”
The soul of these products lies in transforming from cold, mechanical tools into entities with “biological traits,” fostering emotional attachment and caregiving instincts in users.
Take the trending Ropet robot: it feels like a warm, plush pet. If you forget to “feed” it digital snacks, it even shivers in frustration—deliberately creating small “troubles” that make users care for it like a real pet. Mirumi’s robot goes further; when users hug it, hidden sensors cause its arms to gently hug back, mimicking the heartwarming moment when a baby grabs your finger.
By simulating life-like behavior, companion robots tap into humans’ innate “caregiving schema.” A traditional vacuum cleaner will never make you feel like you need to “take it for a walk.” But new-generation companion robots, with details like simulated body warmth and hunger responses, subtly awaken the human instinct to nurture.
They are no longer cold smart devices, but virtual beings that “need you.”
2. Multimodal Interaction Loop: Vision, Voice, Touch Sensors + Emotional AI Models
Multimodal interaction ensures that users experience ongoing engagement beyond the novelty of initial use.
Today’s companion robots can capture micro-expressions with cameras, analyze speech tones through microphones, and even sense the strength of a hug. When this data is processed by AI models at the ChatGPT level, the robot’s next response might feel more “understanding” than even a household pet.
This closed-loop interaction ensures that every user engagement feels increasingly personalized and lifelike. This allows robots to support diverse demographics—whether single youths or elderly individuals—by providing tailored emotional support.
3. Scenario-Based Pricing Strategy: Clear Segmentation for High-End vs. Mass Markets
Successful products also rely on pricing strategies that match user expectations and market positioning. Many breakout hits succeed by precisely targeting their audience’s spending power and psychological price points.
High-end models follow a luxury logic. For example, the Lovot robot, priced over RMB 30,000, uses materials softer than a real cat’s fur and features finely tuned pupil dilation for emotional expression. Buyers view it as a “tech art piece” for their living rooms.
More affordable products, like the Ropet (priced in the low thousands), adopt a “milk tea-level” pricing strategy. They attract young users through impulse purchases, then generate follow-up revenue via virtual stickers, skins, and limited-edition collaborations with celebrities.
Future Technology Trends: Evolving AI, Sensors, and Interaction Design
Companion robots are steadily advancing toward becoming more intelligent, practical, and affordable.
AI advancements are enabling robots to better recognize and respond to human emotions. For example, they can detect anxiety or depression and provide appropriate emotional support. For seniors, robots can deliver around-the-clock care and health reminders.
In hardware, 3D printing technology is helping create skins that feel closer to human touch, while flexible motors and refined movement algorithms make robots’ motions more natural, reducing mechanical stiffness and allowing for more lifelike “hugging” interactions. Combined with a variety of sensors, robots can react more flexibly to different environments, such as helping with light household chores while caring for the elderly or children.
In terms of privacy and cost, new technologies are solving two key challenges. Local data processing is becoming more common, enhancing user privacy and reducing expensive cloud service maintenance fees.
Additionally, modular designs allow users to upgrade or swap components as needed, extending product lifespans. As AI chip technology continues to evolve, robots are becoming cheaper and more compact, making them accessible to more households.
Companion robots are quietly entering people’s lives, and top players are fiercely competing for this blue ocean market.
Competitive Landscape: How Key Players Carve Out Market Niches
Leading companies like Intuition Robotics are focusing on elderly care. Its product, ElliQ, provides health monitoring, safety assurance, and emotional companionship to help reduce loneliness among seniors. With strong support from governments and healthcare institutions, Intuition Robotics has established a solid presence in the senior care market.
Meanwhile, Samsung is leveraging its expertise in home appliances and smart home ecosystems to transform companion robots into multi-functional household managers. Imagine a robot that not only chats with you but also connects with your TV, refrigerator, and other smart devices, helping manage daily chores and creating a more intelligent home environment.
On the other hand, Mengyou Intelligent is taking the “cute and healing” approach, primarily targeting young female consumers. By offering aesthetically pleasing designs and heartwarming interactions, it has successfully attracted a customer base that craves therapeutic and cute products.
The Challenge Ahead: From Simulating Emotion to Genuine Empathy
While today’s robots can “simulate” emotions through language and sensor feedback, there is still a gap before they can truly provide warmth and emotional resonance comparable to human empathy. Bridging this gap is the key technical hurdle the industry must address.
From a market perspective, consumer interest in companion robots is steadily rising, but finding the right balance between pricing, functionality, and emotional value remains a challenge. High-end models are often too expensive to gain widespread adoption, while more affordable options may suffer from functional limitations and brand loyalty issues due to product homogeneity.
As robots become increasingly human-like, ethical concerns are also emerging. Some worry that long-term reliance on robotic companionship could lead to emotional distancing from real human relationships, particularly for seniors and younger users. If robots become people’s sole source of social interaction or emotional support, could this result in greater isolation or disconnection between individuals?
Looking further ahead, as brain-computer interfaces and embodied intelligence technologies evolve, future robots may be able to directly interpret and process human brain signals and participate in physical interactions that convey more nuanced human emotions. Only then might they genuinely “see” and respond to humanity’s deeper feelings of loneliness and longing.
For now, the industry remains both optimistic and cautious about this possibility.