Source: Zhitong Financial Network

The global sweeper market will grow steadily in 2024. Euromonitor data shows that the global retail sales of sweepers will reach $7.4 billion in 2024, a year-on-year increase of 7%, continuing the rapid growth trend in 2023.

In this market where the penetration rate is gradually increasing, the Chinese sweeper brand undoubtedly leads the global market and continues to seize the share.

The reason is that China's sweeper brand has formed a leading position in the global market in terms of product functions and technological innovation, and its overseas market share continues to increase, especially in the high-end market.

Among the many sweeping robot manufacturers in China, Roborock (688169. SH) is undoubtedly that "crown jewel".

On the evening of April 3, Roborock (688169. SH) published its 2024 annual report. According to the annual report data, benefiting from the common development of domestic and overseas businesses, Roborock will achieve operating income of 11.945 billion yuan in 2024, an increase of 38.03% over the same period of the previous year; recorded a net profit of $1.977 billion.

Roborock said that the revenue growth was mainly due to the company's further enrichment of the product matrix and price matrix during the reporting period, and the key breakthroughs in the mainstream price segment. At the same time, the company further optimized the sales structure through an active market strategy, and achieved a significant increase in the company's domestic and overseas business revenue.

In terms of sub-regions, Roborock's domestic main business income will reach 5.531 billion yuan in 2024, an increase of 25.39% over the same period of the previous year; Overseas reached 6.388 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 51.06%.

Roborock is "far ahead" in major markets around the world

According to IDC, an international data company, in 2024, Roborock will rank first in both sales volume and sales in the world, and in terms of shipments, Roborock will surpass iRobot for the first time.

Overall, Chinese companies occupy four of the world's top five sweeping robot manufacturers, which means that Chinese sweeper manufacturers are grabbing market share in the world.

CICC's analyst team analyzed the data of app downloads that are highly correlated with sales, and observed that the sweeper brands with Chinese backgrounds have fully seized the share of iRobot in major markets.

Roborock continues to maintain its leading position among Chinese manufacturers.

According to a report released by IDC on March 17, Roborock will rank first in both global sales volume and sales in 2024, of which Roborock will surpass iRobot for the first time in shipments, with a year-on-year increase of 20.7%, a global sales market share of 16%, and a sales market share of 22.3%.

Specifically, Roborock ranks first in Denmark, Finland, Germany, South Korea, Norway, Sweden, Turkey and other countries.

In both the US Amazon channel and the German Amazon channel, Roborock maintained a strong position.

In the Amazon channel in the United States, in 2024, the retail sales share of iRobot, Shark, and Roborock Meiya sweepers will be 25%, 26%, and 24% respectively, and iRobot and Shark rank among the top two by virtue of their dominance in the price segment below $500, but the share of Stone and iRobot is very close, leading the share among Chinese brands, and has an absolute advantage in the price segment above $500.

In the German Amazon channel, the competition of Chinese brands is more intense, and the retail sales share of stone, Dreame and Ecovacs Deya sweepers in 2024 will be 37%, 19% and 15% respectively, and Roborock is leading in the price band above 300 euros, but the price band above 800 euros and 500-800 euros are facing competitive pressure.

CICC analysts believe that the market in the sub-300 euro price band is fragmented and has a large number of white cards, and this part of the market is more likely to be seized by Chinese brands through the downward price band, and the sooner the brand acts, the more likely it is to seize the opportunity.

In the Amazon channel in France and Italy, Roborock is still in the early stage of layout.

In order to further seize market share, Chinese sweeper brands continue to expand their price band overseas. Combined with the top 50 sweeper products of Amazon Best Seller in the representative market of Europe and the United States, as well as the average sales price of Chinese sweeper brands on major Amazon sites in Europe and the United States, CICC analysts observed that the price distribution of Chinese brands led by Roborock is constantly expanding.

Roborock will continue to deepen its globalization strategy

Behind the "sailing to the sea" of Chinese sweeper manufacturers is the innovation of sweeper products from "inside" and "table", and constantly optimizing the experience with users as the center.

Specifically, in the second half of 2022, China's sweeper industry will enter the stage of micro-innovation, except for the upgrade of software algorithms, the innovation of the hardware part focuses on the optimization of internal details and the continuous superposition of base station functions, such as increased suction, anti-winding roller brush, automatic loading and unloading of base stations, hot water rewashing, etc., The product form of the sweeper at this stage has basically not changed.

In 2023-2024, the technological innovation of sweepers will be more reflected in the change of product form, and it will be more oriented to effectively solve consumer pain points, rather than simple functional stacking. At the same time, judging from the interval between the launch of the same or similar feature innovations, the learning time between leading brands is shortening.

Taking Roborock as an example, the P10 Pro, which will be launched in August 2023, is equipped with a dynamic robotic arm and mop intelligent telescoping function. The V20, which will be launched in March 2024, is equipped with the Stone Star Array Navigation System, and a dual-light source solid-state area array LiDAR navigation and obstacle avoidance system is embedded in the front and rear of the fuselage.

Recently, Roborock has released three new products in a row, namely P20 Ultra, P20 Plus, and G30 U.

Compared with covering the low price band through the price reduction of old products in the second half of 2024, Roborock will cover the low price band through new products in 2025, making the company's overall gross profit margin higher. In the mid-to-high price segment, Roborock optimized its product structure by launching more SKUs.

These innovations are far from the end of the industry.

Roborock said in its annual report that the company will continue to deepen its globalization strategy. In overseas markets, Roborock will focus on North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, and further optimize its sales structure, refine its channel layout, and enhance the influence of its brand and products through active marketing strategies.