It's too late if you don't enter the market of DJI floor sweepers now.
The excitement and intense competition in the robotic vacuum cleaner market have long ceased to be a novelty.
Now, DJI has emerged as a new variable. In the eyes of the outside world, this brand, which stands out in the drone field, boasts strong technological capabilities and a good brand reputation. Moreover, DJI's previous technological accumulations in motors, obstacle avoidance algorithms, and path planning are also applicable to the scenario of robotic vacuum cleaners.
However, as a mass consumer product, the robotic vacuum cleaner market is an extremely competitive field. The top five players in the market account for over 90% of the share, and these manufacturers are now facing the embarrassing situation of increasing revenue but not profit. Can DJI's long - awaited robotic vacuum cleaner break through the gradually solidified market structure?
DJI's Robotic Vacuum Cleaner: A No - Show for a Long Time
DJI's robotic vacuum cleaner has once again disappointed the market.
It was thought that this year's 618 would be the launch date of DJI's robotic vacuum cleaner, the ROMO. Before that, photos of the product's appearance and packaging box had circulated on social networks, and JD.com even posted a pre - sale poster for DJI's robotic vacuum cleaner. However, these messages were later withdrawn, and the release date of DJI's robotic vacuum cleaner was postponed again.
According to an insider, DJI's robotic vacuum cleaners have been distributed to channels, and "it's certain to be launched," but for some reason, the specific launch date has been continuously delayed.
In May this year, some media reported that DJI's robotic vacuum cleaner had entered the mass - production stage and was expected to be officially launched in June. The China Quality Certification Center issued a 3C certification for DJI's robotic vacuum cleaner, with the product name "Combined Mopping and Sweeping Robot." DJI's official response was ambiguous, simply asking people to "stay tuned."
Currently, the official Weibo account of DJI's ROMO has been launched and was verified on June 21, but no information has been posted yet.
Based on the existing market information, DJI's first robotic vacuum cleaner uses vision - based navigation and positioning, is equipped with a space mapping function, includes an all - in - one base station with a clean water tank, a sewage tank, and a dust collection function, and a crawler - type mop, and has functions such as pet detection and personalized room control.
The price of this product is reported to be around 4,000 yuan, which is in line with DJI's consistent approach of targeting the mid - to - high - end market. Additionally, like other brands, DJI's robotic vacuum cleaner is initially manufactured by a third - party. The contract manufacturer is Guangdong Eno Communications, a subsidiary of Furi Electronics.
One of the important reasons for the high level of attention from the outside world regarding DJI's entry into the robotic vacuum cleaner market is that DJI's existing drones and action cameras have a high market share and a good brand image. The core technologies such as path planning, obstacle avoidance algorithms, and motor control in drones can be reused in robotic vacuum cleaners, so DJI's entry into the robotic vacuum cleaner market seems logical.
Some netizens joked that they hope DJI will produce a flying robotic vacuum cleaner that can fly from the first floor to the second floor after finishing cleaning the first floor.
In addition to its technological accumulations, DJI has also established a global sales network, and DJI has always had strong control over its stores. These sales network advantages are not available to many new brands.
Moreover, DJI's brand image in drones and action cameras in recent years has established a technology - oriented label in the minds of many consumers, resulting in a very strong user stickiness. These are all advantages for DJI to enter the robotic vacuum cleaner market.
However, many industry insiders believe that now is not a great time for DJI to enter the market, and it will be a test of the behind - the - scenes operation, especially in terms of pricing. "At least compared with the leading products in the same category, DJI's price should be on par or even lower."
Users who have experienced the product have reported that DJI's robotic vacuum cleaner is not very different from the products on the market. There is no innovation in hardware, and some functions and configurations are even a bit outdated.
Furthermore, the market rules for robotic vacuum cleaners are different from those for drones. DJI's previous popular products, whether drones or action cameras, belong to relatively niche markets. As long as the products are well - made, they can gain the favor of professionals without much large - scale marketing promotion.
However, robotic vacuum cleaners are mass consumer products. Building product awareness requires a lot of marketing investment and market exposure. Hiring celebrity endorsements and having influencers promote the products are common practices. DJI has always emphasized its product and technological strength in marketing and has no habit of hiring celebrity endorsements.
"Even with DJI's brand influence, it will be difficult to build awareness for its robotic vacuum cleaner without heavy marketing investment," said Liu Hongtao, an analyst at Aowei Cloud Network.
DJI's foray into robotic vacuum cleaners can be traced back to 2020 when it established an internal project codenamed "Ground Space Intelligent Explorer," aiming to apply its drone's spatial perception technology to the home environment. In December 2023, DJI added "R & D of intelligent robots" to its business scope. On May 28, 2025, DJI's "ROMO" trademark was registered, covering multiple categories such as robotic vacuum cleaners and vacuum cleaners.
It is not difficult to find that it has taken five years from the project's initiation to the expected product launch. Some industry insiders believe that the reason why DJI's robotic vacuum cleaner has not been officially launched after four or five years may be related to DJI founder Wang Tao's high requirements for the product. It is reported that Wang Tao has overturned the design plans for the robotic vacuum cleaner several times. Wang Tao himself once admitted in an interview, "I'm a perfectionist, so I have a lot of friction when communicating with others."
Is the Robotic Vacuum Cleaner Business Still Profitable?
The robotic vacuum cleaner is a home appliance category that has thrived in the past few years. It is known as one of the three must - haves for middle - class lazy people, attracting a large amount of capital and players. There are not only the well - known "Four Little Dragons of Robotic Vacuum Cleaners" (Ecovacs, Roborock, Yunjing, and Dreame), but also traditional home appliance enterprises such as Midea and Haier have launched corresponding products. iFlytek and Ezviz are also entering this market.
Fierce market competition has been particularly evident in recent years, with market players scrambling for market share. On the one hand, new products are being launched at an increasingly rapid pace. For example, Yunjing, which aims to go public, has been particularly aggressive in its product layout. In 2024, Yunjing changed its previous strategy of relying on a single product line and launched more than 10 new products throughout the year, covering a price range from 1,000 yuan to over 5,000 yuan. Roborock also launched at least 8 new products in the first three quarters of 2024. As the number of new products increases, price wars are intensifying.
On the other hand, companies are sacrificing profit margins to increase market share by lowering prices. In 2024, the average price of Roborock's robotic vacuum cleaners decreased by 12%, resulting in a 6.74 - percentage - point reduction in the gross profit margin in the overseas market.
Moreover, the market concentration of robotic vacuum cleaners is extremely high. In 2024, the top five domestic robotic vacuum cleaner manufacturers (Ecovacs, Roborock, Yunjing, Xiaomi, and Dreame) accounted for 90% of the total market, a more concentrated situation than that of mobile phone manufacturers. The number of floor - washing machine brands has been brutally reduced from 250 to 87.
Domestic brands are especially competitive. Among the world's top five robotic vacuum cleaner brands, only iRobot is not a Chinese brand. However, iRobot's market share dropped from the second place in 2024 to the fifth place in the first quarter of this year. It only has a relatively large share in the North American and Japanese markets, and the rest of the market is basically dominated by Chinese brands. The reason behind this is that iRobot's product iteration is slow, and it has no obvious price advantage.
The result of the intense competition is that companies must continuously invest a large amount of marketing expenses to maintain growth.
In 2024, Ecovacs' sales expenses reached 5.017 billion yuan, accounting for more than 30% of its total revenue. Roborock's situation is similar. In 2024, its sales expenses were 2.967 billion yuan, a year - on - year increase of 73.23%. Among them, advertising and market promotion expenses reached 1.924 billion yuan.
The most obvious manifestation of marketing investment is the enthusiasm for hiring celebrity endorsements. Ecovacs signed the then - popular Wallace Chung in 2016 and later signed Wu Lei, Hyun Bin, and Hu Ge, reaping the benefits of celebrity endorsements. Roborock signed Xiao Zhan, Wang Xinling, and Zhou Ye, Yunjing signed Liu Tao and Yu Shi, and Dreame signed Su Bingtian, Zhang Ruoyun, and Zhang Linghe.
At the AWE exhibitions in recent years, the cleaning appliance section has been the most popular area. One of the important reasons is that celebrities often come to support the brands, leading to security - imposed restrictions on the number of visitors.
Large - scale marketing investment has indeed brought about an increase in revenue and sales volume, but the phenomenon of increasing revenue without increasing profit has become very common. For example, Roborock achieved a record - high revenue of nearly 12 billion yuan in 2024 and ranked first in global shipments, but its net profit decreased instead of increasing, a year - on - year decrease of 3.64%. In the first quarter of 2025, it decreased by 32.92% year - on - year.
Moreover, after two or three years of rapid growth, product homogenization has become increasingly serious. Li Siquan, a senior analyst at IDC, said that in the price range of 3,000 - 4,000 yuan, the main features of products from different brands are quite similar. For example, functions like chassis lifting and edge cleaning show a trend of homogenization.
However, the good news is that the penetration rate of robotic vacuum cleaners is far from saturated. According to data from Aowei Cloud Network, the retail sales of robotic vacuum cleaners in China reached about 16.5 billion yuan in 2024, a year - on - year increase of over 45%. The growth trend continued in the first quarter of 2025, with sales increasing by 51.7%. Li Siquan of IDC revealed that although the exact data for the second quarter of this year has not been counted, considering factors such as national subsidies, the domestic robotic vacuum cleaner market will still maintain a relatively high growth rate.
Liu Hongtao told ShuZhi QianXian that the current penetration rate of robotic vacuum cleaners is only 5% - 6%, far from the ceiling, and users are mainly concentrated in first - and second - tier cities. In contrast, the penetration rate of some categories of large home appliances has even exceeded 100%.
Not long ago, Fang Hongbo, the chairman of Midea Group, mentioned robotic vacuum cleaners in an interview. Midea's robotic vacuum cleaner business lost more than 200 million yuan in 2024, but Fang Hongbo is determined about this category. "Let it lose. Let's see what happens in the end."
It is not difficult to find that although the market is highly competitive, the robotic vacuum cleaner market still maintains a high growth rate. This may be a good thing for new players like DJI.
In the past few years, not only have robotic vacuum cleaner shipments grown rapidly, but product innovation has also been remarkable. From LDS laser radars, multi - functional base stations, to combined mopping and sweeping solutions, these innovations have continuously promoted the rapid development of robotic vacuum cleaners. For example, Yunjing Intelligent pioneered the combined mopping and sweeping function in 2019, and Roborock applied the bionic robotic arm to its robotic vacuum cleaner. The outside world also hopes that DJI's entry will bring some innovation to the products.
Leading Players Are Exploring New Markets
While DJI is hesitating to enter the robotic vacuum cleaner market, other players have already started exploring new markets.
Roborock launched its first washer - dryer combo in 2023. As a new player in the market, the core selling point of its washing machine is the introduction of the mature molecular sieve low - temperature drying technology from the industrial field into household washing machines, opening up a "third way" for drying technology.
Chang Jing, the founder of Roborock, once explained the reason for entering the washing machine market: "It shows us the possibility for Roborock to transform from a small home appliance brand into a well - known mass brand."
Dreame officially announced its entry into the large home appliance market, including air conditioners, refrigerators, and washing machines, as well as the kitchen appliance field at the AWE exhibition at the beginning of this year. It launched multiple products such as air conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines, baking machines, range hoods, and dishwashers all at once, aiming to build a smart home ecosystem. One of the highlights of Dreame's products is the application of the robotic arm technology from its robotic vacuum cleaners to the air - guiding system of air conditioners. These products are expected to be officially launched in the third quarter of 2025.
Ecovacs is focusing on emerging categories such as air purifiers, lawn mowers, window cleaners, and intelligent cooking machines outside the cleaning appliance market, avoiding the well - developed large home appliance market dominated by giants.
Yunjing Intelligent, the latest entrant among these companies, has not explored other home appliance categories. Instead, it is betting on home embodied intelligent products. After all, Yunjing's top priority now is to go public and needs to tell a good story to investors.
However, robotic vacuum cleaner manufacturers also face significant challenges when entering the large home appliance market. Currently, nearly 90% of domestic robotic vacuum cleaners are sold through online channels, while only about half of large home appliances are sold this way. This means that robotic vacuum cleaner manufacturers have a long way to go in channel construction if they want to expand into the large home appliance market.
Moreover, large home appliances have relatively high requirements for volume, installation, and after - sales service, which are rarely required for robotic vacuum cleaners. Li Siquan revealed that robotic vacuum cleaner manufacturers do not have plans to vigorously expand offline channels but will focus on building after - sales service capabilities such as installation and debugging. For example, many combined mopping and sweeping machines now have an automatic water supply and drainage function, which requires helping users with installation.
In the view of an industry insider, large home appliances such as air conditioners, refrigerators, and washing machines currently test the supply chain capabilities and professional service capabilities of manufacturers. For example, air conditioners have obvious off - peak and peak seasons, which test manufacturers' ability to control inventory and production rhythm. Xiaomi has always outsourced the production of