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On April 3, Roborock (688169. SH) released an annual report showing that in 2024, the company will achieve revenue of 11.945 billion yuan, with annual revenue exceeding 10 billion yuan for the first time, net profit attributable to the parent company of 1.977 billion yuan, and plans to distribute 10.7 yuan (tax included) for every 10 shares and increase 4 shares; its sweeping robots have entered 20 million households cumulatively, and last year's sales volume ranked first in the industry.

Revenue in 2024 will increase by 38% year-on-year

As a leading enterprise in the world's sweeping robots, Roborock's revenue growth rate last year was significantly higher than the industry average. In 2024, Roborock's operating income will increase by 38.03% year-on-year, of which the revenue of smart sweepers and accessories will be 10.85 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 34.17%; The revenue of other smart appliances was 1.07 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 93.13%.

From a regional perspective, in 2024, Stone Technology's revenue in Chinese mainland will be 5.53 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 25.39%; Overseas revenue was 6.388 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 51.06%, and its overseas income exceeded domestic income for the first time, which shows that its pace of globalization is relatively fast.

According to data from the International Data Corporation (IDC), the global intelligent sweeping robot market will ship 20.603 million units in 2024, a year-on-year increase of 11.2%; Annual sales reached US$9.31 billion, a year-on-year increase of 19.7%; The average unit price increased by 7.6% to US$452, and the high-end upgrade continued to deepen. In 2024, China's sweeping robot market will ship 5.389 million units, a year-on-year increase of 6.7%; Among them, in the fourth quarter, stimulated by the "national subsidy" policy, 1.75 million units were shipped, a year-on-year increase of 28.2%.

IDC's data shows that in 2024, Roborock will rank first in both sales volume and sales in the global intelligent sweeping robot market, surpassing iRobot for the first time in terms of shipments, with a market share of 16% in global sales throughout the year, a market share of 22.3% in sales, and a year-on-year increase of 20.7% in shipments. Its multi-model products cover the low, medium and high-end markets respectively, and the flagship new product of the sweeping robot with a robotic arm, the G30 Space Exploration Edition, promotes the industry to accelerate the upgrade to embodied robots.

As for the reasons for the rapid growth of revenue last year, Roborock said in its annual report that it mainly enriched the product matrix and price matrix, and made key breakthroughs in the mainstream price segment, and at the same time further optimized the sales structure through active market strategies, and achieved a significant increase in domestic and overseas business revenue.

Roborock has adopted a diversified channel strategy in overseas markets and established cooperative relationships with well-known local e-commerce platforms, retailers and agents. For example, in North America, as of December 2024, it has entered 1,398 stores in Taget and 900 stores in Bestbuy, effectively enhancing the brand image and market share. At present, Roborock's products have been distributed in more than 230 countries and regions around the world, and more than 20 million families have used Roborock sweeping robots.

R&D investment accounted for 8% of revenue

Behind last year's record revenue, Roborock's investment in R&D also reached a new high, and innovative products were produced one after another.

In 2024, Roborock's R&D investment will reach 971 million yuan, accounting for 8.13% of revenue, an increase of about one percentage point year-on-year. Last year, Roborock launched a number of new products, such as P20 Pro and G20S Ultra, A30 series, Z1 and Q1 series, etc., which were recognized by the market.

By the end of 2024, Roborock had 2,560 employees, including 1,043 R&D personnel, accounting for 40.74% of the total number of employees. Last year, Roborock added 741 new authorized patents, including 98 new invention patents, 279 new utility model patents, and 364 new design patents. 6 new authorized software copyrights and a total of 308 new authorized trademarks and works copyrights.

The intelligent sweeping robot industry is in a stage of rapid development, with intensive technology and product iteration frequency, and high technical and financial barriers in the industry. According to the monitoring data of AVC and IDC, in 2024, the concentration of domestic and overseas intelligent sweeping robot brands will be high, and the TOP5 brands will account for more than 90% and 60% respectively.

From the perspective of technology trends, while continuously optimizing the cleaning effect, obstacle crossing ability and anti-tangle function, the intelligent sweeping robot industry is also intensively launching flagship new products equipped with AI intelligent navigation, robotic arm and other technologies. We will further improve cleaning coverage, realize the leap from two-dimensional floor cleaning to three-dimensional space mastery, and accelerate the evolution of the industry in the direction of intelligence and integration.

At the CES exhibition to be held in early 2025, Roborock was the first to launch an ultra-thin robot vacuum cleaner with a multi-axis bionic manipulator. Its 5-axis folding bionic manipulator can imitate the movement mode of human hand joints, and realize flexible movement through a precise motor drive system and transmission device, which can accurately control the movement of the manipulator. In terms of assisted cleaning, it can easily grasp small obstacles such as socks to assist in cleaning; In simple housekeeping, it can also identify and grab lighter items such as slippers and place them in designated locations, bringing users a more convenient life experience.

Grasp the opportunities of the intelligent era with diversification

As the wave of smart home continues to surge, GfK predicts that by 2030, the size of China's clean appliance market is expected to reach 60 billion yuan.

In the fast-growing track of intelligent cleaning appliances, Roborock will continue to increase R&D investment in 2025, especially in the fields of AI, intelligent algorithms, laser navigation, etc., to further improve the intelligent level of products, and to further expand product price segments, enrich product matrix, and respond to the differentiated needs of consumers. In the face of intensified competition, Roborock will also give full play to its procurement bargaining power and improve the efficiency of the overall supply chain to resist the potential risks brought about by the price reduction of industry products.

At the same time, Roborock has gradually extended to the field of smart electrical appliances to achieve diversified development of product lines. According to Aowei data compass, as of March 30, 2025, Roborock's sales share in the domestic online washing machine market ranked among the top three in the industry, an increase of 9.33 percentage points year-on-year, and Roborock's sales share in the domestic online washing machine market increased by 1.02 percentage points year-on-year.

In overseas markets, in the face of trade environment variables such as tariff barriers, Roborock also prepared in advance and took precautions. Roborock said that from the third quarter of 2024, despite the continuous adjustment of global tariff policies, the impact on the company's sales performance in North America is still under control.

In order to effectively respond to changes in tariffs and trade environment, Roborock continued to promote its localized operation strategy, and continued to enhance its competitiveness and market share in the domestic market by optimizing its product structure, improving the layout of all price bands, deepening channel construction and strengthening brand marketing. On the other hand, it actively implements the layout of global production capacity.

Looking forward to the future, Roborock adheres to the scientific and technological mission of "making life more quality" and the corporate vision of "becoming the world's leading technology home appliance company", and will continue to grow bigger and stronger on the track of intelligent sweeping robots and smart home appliances.

Zhao Siquan, a senior analyst at IDC China, believes that in 2025, the global sweeping robot market will rely on the breakthrough upgrade of humanoid robot navigation algorithm and motion control technology, and through the deep integration of AI large models and 3D visual perception capabilities, to achieve more efficient complex environment adaptability and intelligent cleaning decision-making system construction, and promote the product to iterate in the direction of "embodied intelligence + autonomous cleaning of the whole house". It also forms ecological synergy with equipment such as floor scrubbers to accelerate the construction of cleaning solutions covering all scenarios of the family.