The penetration rate is only 0.5%, and the domestic sweeping robot market is a blue ocean
AsiaIndustrial NetNews: According to statistics from relevant agencies, China and the United States, the two largest sweepers in the world, are currentlyRobotThere is still a lot of room for improvement in market penetration, especially in China, which is a blue ocean. With the intensification of market competition, iRobot, a US-based cleaning robot manufacturer, recently filed a lawsuit against 11 competitors, including three Chinese companies.
At the moment when civilian Robots are becoming popular, household robots are the first to enter the homes of ordinary people. Among them, sweeping robots with a high proportion have grown rapidly since 2015. Companies with backgrounds in robotics and home appliances have entered this emerging market one after another.
As competition intensifies, the “robot war” begins.
On April 18, the US cleaning robot manufacturer iRobot filed a lawsuit against 11 competitors, accusing them of infringing on six technology patents of the company. The accused objects included 3 Chinese companies and 8 foreign companies, including Shenzhen Zhiyi Technology. Co., Ltd., Suzhou Laibao Electric Co., Ltd., Shenzhen Yinxing Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd., as well as Bissell, Hoover, Royal Electric Manufacturing Co., Ltd., bObsweep, Black & Decker, Panasonic Enterprise Co., Ltd., etc.
As the world’s first listed company for home robots, iRobot currently holds about 300 patents in the United States and more than 900 patented technologies worldwide. Since 2011, the company’s investment in R&D has remained between 12% and 13%. Compared with Ecovacs, which has the largest domestic share, patents and R&D investment have certain advantages. According to the prospectus disclosed by Ecovacs, the number of its patents is 572.
Among the three Chinese companies involved in this case, Shenzhen Zhiyi has its own brand of sweeping robots in the US market; Suzhou Laibao and Shenzhen Yinxing are foundry companies. Among the other eight foreign companies involved in the case, several have The sweeping robots are OEM by these two Chinese companies.
The sweeping robot gives an expensive impression to users who have not entered the pit. In fact, after the rapid development in the past 10 years, the price of sweeping robots has drawn a long line from cheap to expensive. The entry-level price of less than 1,000 yuan can also provide a basic and excellent experience.
Cleaning is a necessary part of daily household chores, and it is often time-consuming and energy-consuming, and robot vacuums are a way to make cleaning effective and easy.
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Technavio analyst Bharath said robot vacuums are popular among urban consumers with a fast-paced lifestyle because they can reduce daily house cleaning time. By 2020, the robot vacuum cleaner market will see positive growth, and the global robot vacuum cleaner market will reach USD 3.31 billion.
Around 2010, domestic sweeping robot brands emerged one after another and gradually realized industrialization. At present, there are dozens of sweeping robot brands in the domestic market, such as Ecovacs, iRobot, Formart, Dibei, Xrobot, Haier, Midea, Prosenic, Philips and Samsung. However, the proportion of domestically established sweeping robot companies with core R&D capabilities is not high.
According to GFK data, the retail scale of China’s sweeping robot market in 2015 was around 5 billion yuan, and this figure will reach 7.5 billion yuan in 2017, and will increase to 12 billion yuan in 2018. The market space for sweeping robots is huge. At present, the US market and the Chinese market are the main markets for sweeping robots, but even in the most developed US market, the penetration rate of intelligent sweeping robots for households in the United States is 16%, and the penetration rate of intelligent sweeping robots in domestic coastal areas is 4%-5 %, while the penetration rate in inland areas is as low as 0.5%.
As far as the current domestic market structure is concerned, Ecovacs, which has a market share of nearly 70% in recent years, has firmly occupied the top spot in the industry, while professional brands such as iROBOT, Neato, and Formart fill the remaining 30%, while other industries have switched to the market. The market share of Philips, Haier and other brands is almost negligible. Compared with professional brands that have been engaged in the cleaning Robot Industry for many years, Philips, Haier and Xiaomi still have a long way to go. Of course, what cannot be ignored is that behind these brands there are strong brand re