By Gabby Chen
(JW Insights) Apr 27 -- Chinese robot vacuum companies are gaining global dominance with cutting-edge features and affordable prices. They include Ecovacs Robotics(科沃斯), Roborock(石头科技) and Dreame Technology(追觅科技), reported Nikkei Asia on April 25.
Ecovacs Robotics, the biggest smart home robotics maker in China, has surpassed iRobot, a leading US consumer robot company, in sales last year. With a market capitalization of around RMB44 billion ($6.38 billion), Ecovacs Robotics' value is about five times that of iRobot. The company was founded in 1998 in Suzhou of eastern China's Jiangsu Province.
"We're using automated driving technology," says an Ecovacs sales representative, describing the company's latest Deebot vacuums that use artificial intelligence chips and deep learning technology to control movement.
The Deebot is powered by chips from Horizon Robotics, a Chinese autonomous driving technology company founded in 2015 that collaborates with Volkswagen. The vacuum also features Ecovacs' own Lidar (light detection and ranging) sensing system as well as a high-definition camera so it can map a home using data collected for efficient cleaning.
Ecovacs offers a wide lineup from the entry-level model priced around RMB1,000 ($144.57) range to a vacuum-and-mop hybrid that sells for RMB6,999 ($1011.77).
In comparison, iRobot's two-in-one top-notch model, the Roomba Combo j7+, carries a suggested price of $1,099.99 in the US.
Ecovacs is steadily picking up customers from iRobot. The global market share of iRobot shrank from 64% in 2016 to 46% in 2020, according to German research firm Statista and iRobot itself. Ecovacs raised its share to 17% in 2020 from 7% in 2014.
Chinese startups are rising. Roborock, backed by Chinese smartphone giant Xiaomi, now sells robot vacuums in more than 100 markets, ranking third in global share behind Ecovacs. Roborock was founded in 2014 in Beijing.
The Suzhou-based Dreame Technology, ranked fifth in China, entered Japan last year after a foray into Europe and the US. The company offers products on e-commerce platforms such as Amazon and Rakuten in Japan, and plans to sell them in physical stores soon. Dreame is building a new factory in Suzhou as it targets sales of 200,000 units, including stick vacuums.
Chinese companies are buoyed by the rapid growth of their home market. The expanding middle class helps make robot vacuums a common appliance. Qianzhan Industrial Research Institute forecasts the Chinese robot vacuum market to more than double between 2022 and 2026, reaching RMB28.1 billion ($4.06 billion).
Market growth lets Chinese companies, which keep manufacturing in-house, reap the benefit of mass production. The rise of global online shopping also helps these startup manufacturers that do not have strong relationships with brick-and-mortar retailers to reach consumers.
The Chinese players that are expanding overseas face the challenge of improving their brand name recognition and gaining consumer trust. In their home market, many of them operate stores so shoppers can test their products, said the Nikkei Asia report.
