The chokepoints

Each layer of the supply chain has its own physics, its own moat, and its own catalyst calendar. Pick a strait.

Strain-wave gears & RV reducers

Every robot joint routes torque through a precision reducer — and two Japanese companies own the global installed base.

NCTKY · HSYDF · TKR · SOHVY

Smooth linear motion is a metallurgy-and-grinding art owned by a handful of Japanese precision houses.

SFFLY · THKLY · NPSKY · TKR · RBC · GSA

Humanoids need dozens of compact high-torque-density actuators; the merchant motor bench is thin and the leaders are vertically integrating.

RRX · ALNT · MOG.A · NJDCY · HSYDF · TSLA

Every actuator is wound around NdFeB magnets — a China-controlled input the humanoid ramp multiplies by 40+ joints per robot.

MP · USAR · LYSCF · UUUU · NOVEON

Manipulation lives or dies on force and touch sensing; the merchant suppliers are few and mostly buried inside diversified names.

NOVT · TEL · ALGM · CGNX · STM · TSLA

A humanoid is a robot wrapped around an AI computer; the perception-and-policy silicon comes from one dominant vendor and a thin second tier.

NVDA · QCOM · AMBA · LSCC · KOID · FIGURE

A humanoid shift is a battery problem: kWh-class packs, high discharge rates, and NDAA-clean supply for defense-adjacent buyers.

AMPX · ENVX · ULBI · ENS