(Yicai) Sept. 3 -- Chinese manufacturers of cleaning robots delivered an exceptional performance in the first half, securing the top four spots in global market share and expanding their presence abroad through the introduction of new types of products, such as lawn-mowing and pool-cleaning robots, according to the latest research

Global shipments of smart home-cleaning robots, including vacuum cleaners, lawn mowers, pool cleaners, window cleaners and air purifiers, surged 33 percent in the first six months from a year earlier to 15.4 million units, according to a report released today by US market research firm International Data Corp.

Roborock Technology dominated the global market with a 15.2 percent share, followed by Ecovacs Robotics with 13.7 percent, Dreame Technology with 10.2 percent and Xiaomi with 7.4 percent. US manufacturer iRobot ranked fifth with a 5.8 percent share, the report said.

Robot vacuum cleaners are the most popular cleaning robot, with shipments increasing 17 percent to 11.3 million units over the period, the report said. Chinese manufacturers' growth in the domestic market is primarily due to effective government subsidy policies, while overseas growth is driven more by aggressive sales channel expansion.

Shipments of lawn-mowing robots saw a sharp increase in the six months ended June 30, more than quadrupling year on year to 2.3 million units. Chinese manufacturers including Ninebot, Dreame and Suzhou-based Ecovacs saw their overseas orders boom, IDC said. High-end consumers in Europe and the United States are more likely to accept and are more willing to pay for smart devices, driving up demand for automatic lawn mowers, it added.

Sales of swimming pool-cleaning robots jumped 19 percent to 933,000 units. While this market is still dominated by overseas manufacturers, Chinese brands are emerging and are driving the smart upgrading of products in Europe and the US through technological innovation and a precise understanding of the market, Needham-based IDC said.

Chinese cleaning robot makers are expanding the functions and application scenarios of their products and accelerating their efforts to compete for a bigger share of overseas markets, said Zhao Siquan, senior analyst at IDC China.

Chinese manufacturers tend to enter international markets through e-commerce channels first. They then build offline sales channels to hike their market share once they have accumulated a certain amount of sales and established a strong brand image, she said.

This year, global shipments of cleaning robots are likely to surge 28 percent from last year to 32.1 million units, IDC said. And growth is likely to remain at around 30 percent a year for the next few years, reaching 69.8 million units by 2028.

Editor: Kim Taylor