Global Commercial Service Robot Shipments Leader KEENON Puts Humanoids to Work at WAIC 2026
At WAIC 2026, KEENON Robotics presented humanoid and specialized service robots as complementary technologies rather than competitors in the realm of embodied intelligence for commercial service workflows.
KEENON ranked first worldwide in commercial service robot shipments in 2025, according to IDC, while also leading in the global delivery robot market. The organization anticipates a move toward a more diversified, multi-form future in the industry, where varied robot types are utilized based on specific tasks and environments. This strategic approach was first proposed by KEENON and is reflected in the showcases at WAIC.
The company's booth illustrated this strategy through a newly introduced hotel laundry scenario. Humanoid robots performed operational tasks, such as loading washing machines, retrieving clean laundry, and folding garments, while the DINERBOT T9 enhanced the delivery workflow. This collaboration highlighted how humanoid and specialized robots could effectively share responsibilities in a hotel operation.
KEENON applied a similar role-based approach to food and retail services. The XMAN-R1 was designed for front-of-house tasks, combining customer interaction with object handling, such as preparing drinks with NOWWA Coffee and responding to customer requests in dessert and retail contexts. These scenarios demonstrated KEENON's expansion of established commercial service workflows into new humanoid capabilities, all executed autonomously without teleoperation.
The "general-purpose humanoid + specialized service robot" strategy aims to create a practical pathway for embodied intelligence, with humanoids managing flexible operational and interaction tasks while specialized robots focus on high-frequency delivery and cleaning tasks. At WAIC 2026, KEENON showcased not only a variety of robot forms but also a comprehensive model for commercial deployment.
With over 100,000 service robots deployed in more than 70 countries and regions, KEENON has gained recognition from major global brands and is widely used in well-known establishments such as Burger King, Buffalo Wild Wings, Hilton, BMW, and Lego. Examples include venues operating between 10 to 20 robots, like Hotel Around Pyeongchang, and facilities such as Shangri-La's Trader Hotel, which features a mixed fleet of eight robots across six types, establishing it as the world's first intelligent hotel utilizing both humanoid and service robots, thereby demonstrating proven multi-robot efficiency.