Korean heavyweights LG and Samsung are gearing for a major slice of the global humanoid robot camera market and competing fiercely against one another.

With humanoid robot manufacture likely to explode in coming years, the adjunct camera market will be lucrative for these mega electronics companies and others who get a foothold.

The cameras are the eyes of the robots and comprise vision sensors capable of depth perception and an ability to create 3D maps of their environments. Multiple cameras improve a robot’s depth and spatial assessment abilities as does having two human eyes.

While relatively small at $US16.4 million in 2024, this market is expected to explode at a compounding rate of 22% annually to $US66 million by 2031, according to Valuates Reports.

Of the two Korean tech giants, LG has been getting deals together at a cracking pace. Its electronics part maker LG Innotek is in talks with US-based humanoid robotics startup Figure AI to supply its camera models, The Korea Herald reports. It says mass production could begin early in 2026.

The report says Figure AI, backed by Amazon founder Jess Bezos, wants to produce 100,000 humanoid cameras over four years.

“If the negotiations are successful, LG will become the official camera module supplier for the US startup, marking its first major achievement in its new robotics business,” the Herald says.

LG also has signed a partnership with Boston Dynamics which has been showcasing its robotics prototypes for years.

According to the report, LG Innotek has also forged collaborations with the majority of the 14 humanoid robotics forms that were highlighted during Nvideo CEO Jensen Huang’s keynote at CES 2025.

We are yet to see how US sanctions play out in these landmark deals regarding robotics components.

Component maker Samsung Electro-Mechanics meanwhile is reportedly engaging with robotics firms although no specific deals have been announced.

“Samsung is already an established supplier of smartphone and automotive camera modules. As such, Samsung Electro-Mechanics believes its camera modules will grow in popularity as the humanoid robot market reaches mass production stages,” Sammobile.com reports.

The coming robotics camera market should provide phone makers with a large growth opportunity at a time the phone camera market is saturated.