Dreame, Haier, and Anker Have All Entered the Fray. Is "Embodied Intelligence" Just a Gimmick or a Remedy? | Focus Analysis

Author | Zhang Ziyi

Editor | Yuan Silai

Currently, "embodied intelligence" is definitely the hottest concept.

At the recently concluded AWE2025 (China Household Appliances and Consumer Electronics Expo), many enterprises showcased their products related to embodied intelligence.

Dreame launched a dual - robotic - arm air conditioner capable of 126° wide - angle air supply; FOTILE's ACS 2.0 panoramic automatic cooking system also features robotic arms, which can collaborate with kitchen appliances to achieve open - flame cooking without human intervention.

The "robotic arm" is just the first step. With the support of embodied intelligence technology, traditional household appliance enterprises are venturing into the robotics field, while technology companies focusing on robotics are entering the household appliance industry.

Not long ago, Haier Brothers Robot Technology (Qingdao) Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Haier Smart Home, reached a strategic cooperation with Xingdong Jiyuan. The two parties plan to jointly launch service robots based on smart home scenarios.

Dreame announced its entry into the intelligent large - household - appliance market at the AWE exhibition and released multiple products such as air conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines, and a full range of intelligent kitchen appliances.

Moreover, some consumer electronics companies are also getting involved in embodied intelligence. Jiemian News reported that Anker Innovations has determined its robot evolution strategy. Currently, it will utilize its existing teams and technologies to develop products such as floor - sweeping robots and plans to launch a large - scale recruitment campaign for projects related to robot dogs and humanoid robots.

After Unitree became extremely popular, many companies rushed to enter the market. However, upon closer inspection, it becomes clear that they are often vague about the specific form of products they want to develop.

Equipping with "robotic arms" has almost become a standard feature for floor - sweeping robots in 2025, and developing humanoid robots has also become a common goal for household appliance giants.

This is not the first time companies have followed the trend, nor will it be the last. The concept of "embodied intelligence" will eventually fade. Before that, it may be difficult for a household appliance company to produce a truly meaningful humanoid robot.

01 Technological Progress or Redundant Innovation

Undoubtedly, Unitree's humanoid robot's performance at this year's Spring Festival Gala has greatly boosted the industry's enthusiasm. After the wave of large models, embodied intelligence is regarded as a key direction in the new wave of artificial intelligence.

Embodied intelligence is a relatively broad concept. It refers to endowing artificial intelligence with a physical entity, enabling it to perceive the world with its body like humans and grow through interactive learning with the environment.

Robots with embodied intelligence capabilities can perceive the surrounding environment through sensors such as vision and touch, flexibly adjust their movements, and perform more delicate operations, rather than simply repeating mechanical actions according to pre - set programs like traditional industrial robots.

"Floor - sweeping robots already possess basic embodied intelligence capabilities. They need to perceive the environment, identify targets to be processed (garbage and debris), and plan their own movements and operations on the targets. The basic functional framework of floor - sweeping robots is similar to that of humanoid robots, with the main difference lying in the complexity of scenarios and tasks. Floor - sweeping robots are also carriers of embodied intelligence," a person in the robotics industry told Yingke.

For floor - sweeping robot companies, developing products with embodied intelligence capabilities has natural advantages and entry points.

At the press conference, Dreame launched the world's first bionic multi - joint robotic - arm floor - sweeping robot equipped with an accessory warehouse and capable of independently using cleaning tools. This robot not only has an "intelligent central control" for autonomous decision - making, but its bionic robotic arm also has 5 degrees of freedom and a reach of 33 cm, enabling it to accurately grasp objects weighing less than 500 g.

Specifically, the 5 degrees of freedom are equivalent to the four core joints of a human, namely the "shoulder, elbow, wrist, and fingers", allowing it to rotate freely like a human hand when dealing with furniture scenarios. With a reach of 30 cm, it is equivalent to half the length of an adult's arm; the width of objects it can grip is about 6 cm, close to the width of a soda can; and the maximum weight of objects it can grip reaches 400 g.

Floor - sweeping robots equipped with robotic arms can indeed enhance cleaning power and expand usage scenarios, but the industry has followed suit quite rapidly.

Roborock recently announced its embodied intelligence solution. The 5 - axis folding bionic robotic arm on its G30S floor - sweeping robot can automatically identify and pick up obstacles such as socks and data cables during the cleaning process. The UP robot of Yunji Technology can achieve seamless switching between scenarios such as delivery and cleaning through its "tool warehouse" time - sharing multiplexing system, making it a multi - functional device.

A person in the industry told Yingke: "Due to the rapid development of the robotics industry in recent years, the threshold for robotic - arm research and development has been significantly lowered. Many key technologies already have relatively mature solutions. Even the relatively more complex six - degree - of - freedom robotic arms have become very common commercial products. Companies no longer need to invest a large amount of capital to start research and development from scratch."

The maturity of robotic - arm technology has indirectly intensified the "involution" in the floor - sweeping robot industry. In some videos evaluating floor - sweeping robots with robotic arms, some netizens believe that the functions of "picking up socks and garbage" are somewhat useless and just a gimmick for price hikes.

Kaiyuan Securities predicts that (for floor - sweeping robots) robotic arms can continue to evolve. It is expected that after reaching the second stage, with hardware optimization, the development of AI technology, and continuous algorithm accumulation, functions such as assisting in obstacle crossing and going up and down stairs can be achieved, and the types of objects that can be put back in place will also be further expanded to larger and heavier items, such as toys, footballs, and small stools. In the third stage, it may evolve into the form of a home service robot, capable of performing more diverse functions such as folding clothes and cutting vegetables.

02 Aiming at Home Service Robots

Equipping floor - sweeping robots with robotic arms is just the first step, and also an inevitable one, in the application of embodied intelligence in the floor - sweeping robot field.

For floor - sweeping robot companies, after the "territory - grabbing" stage, the industry has entered an era of minor technological innovation. With the continuous increase in marketing expenses year after year, corporate profits have been significantly affected.

Both Ecovacs and Roborock are showing a downward trend.

In the third quarter of last year, the former's revenue and profit declined, with the net profit attributable to the parent company dropping by 69.21% year - on - year, reaching only 603,880 yuan; while the latter's revenue continued to rise, but the net profit attributable to the parent company decreased by 43.4% year - on - year, to 351 million yuan. The proportion of sales expenses to revenue for both companies has been gradually increasing, exceeding 20% of their revenues.

The aforementioned person in the robotics industry believes that: "At present, there is no significant technological gap between floor - sweeping robot companies. In order to stimulate consumers' purchasing desire, they are engaging in intense competition in technology, to the point of innovating for the sake of innovation and creating differences for the sake of creating differences."

The latest report released by IDC shows that the global intelligent floor - sweeping robot market shipped 20.603 million units throughout 2024, a year - on - year increase of 11.2%. In the fourth quarter, the global floor - sweeping robot market shipped 5.918 million units, a year - on - year increase of 7.8%, with the growth rate slowing down compared to the first three quarters.

The slowdown in the growth of the global intelligent floor - sweeping robot market has forced floor - sweeping robot companies to either find new business growth points or develop new business directions. The home service robot scenario extended from robotic arms is obviously a new growth point favored by floor - sweeping robot companies.

The same goes for household appliance companies. Household appliance companies that have long entered the stage of "minor innovation" in technology have always been enthusiastic supporters of new technologies. Regardless of how much the so - called "intelligence" can be implemented, it is a must to keep up with the trend.

Not long ago, Midea publicly unveiled its humanoid robot for the first time and announced the establishment of a humanoid robot innovation center, making good progress in the research of core components of humanoid robots, including reducers, sensors, and controllers.

Public information shows that Midea's humanoid robot can perform various actions such as shaking hands, dancing, making a heart shape with hands, handing over water, opening bottle caps, and screwing screws. It can also understand voice commands, interact with people, and perform corresponding operations according to the commands.

Midea is shifting from industrial robots back to the consumer - grade scenario. It acquired KUKA, one of the world's four major industrial robot companies, in 2017, having the financial and scenario advantages for researching and developing humanoid robots.

However, industrial robots are quite expensive. Depending on the arm span, load - bearing capacity, and functions, their prices range from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of yuan.

The reason why Unitree's robot products have received enthusiastic responses from the outside world is that their prices have dropped to the ten - thousand - yuan level. In fact, if humanoid robots really want to enter ordinary households, price is definitely an unavoidable factor.

Another giant in the household appliance industry, Haier, not only cooperated with Xingdong Jiyuan to develop home service robots but also became the controlling shareholder of Shanghai STEP Electric Corporation, a leading domestic industrial robot company, in February this year.

Currently, it seems that more and more companies will participate in the embodied intelligence industry. Giants, startups, and emerging companies will all compete in this field. It is still unknown whether a revolutionary robot product will be born, but the technological arms race is not a bad thing for now.