The Shenzhen-based company has evolved from a high-growth startup to become a leader in advanced light detection and ranging technology

image credit: Bamboo Works

RoboSense Technology Co. Ltd. (2498.HK) reported its first-ever quarterly profit in the final three months of 2025, marking its transition from startup to a leading producer of light detection and ranging (LiDAR) technology and robotics systems.

The company, whose sensors power advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous robots, posted a profit of 104 million yuan ($15.1 million) in the fourth quarter of last year, reversing a loss of 130 million yuan a year earlier, according to its latest financial report.

The company said the milestone reflects the maturation of sensor technology to a stage of scalable and sustainable profitability. It also signifies a structural shift in the broader LiDAR industry, long characterized by aggressive spending and uncertain business models, as the technology also underwent an important shift from analog to digital during the year.

LiDAR firms historically faced steady losses due to costly R&D cycles, complex supply chains and uneven product adoption amid fierce competition. RoboSense was able to achieve greater cost efficiency with its proprietary digital chip architecture, including the rollout of its self-developed SPAD SoC and 2D chipsets in late 2024. The move eliminated the company's reliance on third-party suppliers and digitized its LiDAR hardware, compressing traditional optical complexity into a simple integrated circuit design.

RoboSense said the transition helped to cut its unit costs by around 30% while maintaining detection range and resolution, making the technology more cost-effective and giving it an edge over its rivals.

RoboSense recorded revenue of 751 million yuan in the fourth quarter, up 46% year-on-year. During the quarter, it secured 33 design wins spanning 14 major global automotive brands, including Japan's top three carmakers, further broadening its reach in the premium and mass-market electric vehicle (EV) segments.

Its robotics business also recorded strong gains, with shipments up more than twentyfold year-on-year to 221,200 units in the last quarter of 2025, covering applications from warehouse automation to delivery robots and humanoid platforms. Revenue from that higher-margin segment climbed to 347 million yuan, accounting for about 49% of its total product sales.

"Our strategic direction is clear: RoboSense is a robotics company," said CEO Mark Qiu. "We will continue to expand the boundaries of physical AI, further consolidating our core competitive advantage through proprietary chipsets, which lay the foundation for our generational-lead product offerings."

Looking to 2026, RoboSense forecast its annual sales will grow two to three times from last year's levels, and plans to expand its production capacity to 4 million units per year. The company expects demand to rise sharply for Level 2+ advanced driving systems as they become mainstream in EVs and as physical AI robotics such as autonomous delivery systems, humanoid robots and logistics machines, enter their commercialization phase.

Founded in 2014 as Suteng Innovation Technology, RoboSense has grown from a university-based research venture into a global supplier of advanced LiDAR and perception software. Its technologies underpin Level 2+ advanced driver assistance systems and robotic vision platforms used by car manufacturers across Asia, North America and Europe.

To subscribe to Bamboo Works free weekly newsletter, click here

Benzinga Disclaimer: This article is from an unpaid external contributor. It does not represent Benzinga’s reporting and has not been edited for content or accuracy.