Source: AWE

Chinese vacuum cleaning brands and their robot vacuums have been undeniable highlights at AWE2024 and IFA2024. What’s behind the fast growth and what more can we expect from them at AWE2025?

Upgraded navigation technology

Before 2010, robot vacuums, stuck at the early bounce and bang navigation, were not able to plot out mappings and paths to clean, making them “stupid” products that consumers are not interested in.

In 2020, Ecovacs entered the industry. It upgrades to AI mapping that uses sensors such as lidar for simultaneous localization and mapping after using gyroscope and accelerometer mapping for a short period of time.

In 2021, Ecovacs combined dToF and TrueDetect 3D technology and rolled out 3D Mapping products, providing higher accuracy in obstacle avoidance and mapping forming. In 2022, Roborock unveiled its G10S robot vacuum that adopted AI obstacle avoidance technology for the first time. In 2024, Dreame rolled out products equipped with AI RGB + 3D structured light, liftable brushes and mops, interactive 360-degree space perception and lidar technology, making obstacle avoidance highly accurate and allowing for adjustable barrier cross height.

Refined cleaning system

The early design of robot vacuums required for manual dustbin removing and emptying after each round of cleaning, which was not in line with the idea of the robot in the first place. After years of development, robot vacuum industry went through many significant upgrades such as self-emptying, self-cleaning, all-in-one base station and the design of vacuum and mop combo.

In 2018, iRobot first introduced auto dust collection function. Two years later, Narwal unveiled robot vacuums with self-cleaning function and all-in-one base station. The introduction of all-in-one base station provides an integrated solution from mop washing, dust collecting, auto cleaning, to auto drying which successfully address the problems resulted from using one mop to clean.

The revolutionary development of cleaning system is a game changer in brand landscape. Many brands including Ecovacs, Dreame, Narwal and Roborock outflanked the once market leader iRobot with their innovative all-in-one base station products that won them over the trust of consumers.

Robot vacuum makers have not stopped upgrading their cleaning functions in the past year. After innovatively introducing bionic robotic arm to tackle dead corners, Dreame rolled out its bionic robotic foot design capable of barrier cross height up to 6cm in September.

Anti-tangle technology has also been iterated in the past two to three years. Roborock upgraded its floating brush into DuoRoller Riser Brush, Dreame upgraded its hair-cutting, anti-tangle roller brush into hair-cutting roller brush + zero tangling side brush, and Narwal adopted a zero-tangling floating brush design.

Market landscape

Despite the overall sluggish home appliance market, China’s retail sales of robotic vacuums reached 13.7 billion yuan in 2023, an increase of 10% year-on-year, while retail volume stood at 4.58 million units, up 4% year-on-year, according to All View Cloud. It is believed that the expansion of all-in-one base stations provided a strong boost to the growth of the industry.

In the first half of 2024, robotic vacuum cleaners took the lead in the growth of the entire cleaning appliances and even the home appliance industry, with retail sales increasing by 18.8% year-on-year and retail volume rising by 11.9% year-on-year. It accounted for 41% of the overall cleaning appliance market, making it the leader of cleaning appliances. The fast growth of robot vacuums is observed not only in China but also worldwide driven by the innovative products developed by Chinese brands. According to IDC predictions, the global shipment of intelligent robotic vacuums is expected to continue to increase with an annual compound growth rate of 6% over the next five years, approaching 25 million units by 2028.

It is commonly believed that tech-powered innovative products are what boost the growth of the category. The fast iteration of innovative products from robot vacuum brands including Ecovacs, Dreame, Roborock and Narwal well address consumer pain points and receive positive market responses, giving them great confidence to put more into R&D and make innovation their strategy.

It is said that robotic vacuums are iterated every six months, which means what AWE2025 brings will be whole new technology and products compared to AWE2024. AWE2025, a global benchmark for household appliances and consumer electronics, will be held at the Shanghai New International Expo Center from March 20-23, 2025. Brands such as Ecovacs, Dreame, Roborock, Narwal, Mova, Ezviz, and 3i will gather at AWE2025 to present a tech feast for consumers.