Can DJI's cross - border floor sweeper, the ROMO which has been developed over five years, stand out in the fiercely competitive smart cleaning market?
On July 23rd, DJI announced through official channels that its first robotic vacuum cleaner, ROMO, will make its official debut at 8 p.m. on August 6th.
This product, which started development in 2020 and has been in the works for nearly five years, has finally emerged. Lei Technology will also share our experience of this product as soon as possible. Stay tuned.
Image source: DJI
The release of a robotic vacuum cleaner wouldn't usually cause such a stir. What really catches the attention of the entire consumer electronics industry and even the capital market isn't the cleaning and mopping capabilities of the product itself, but the well - known name behind it - DJI.
Why has this "king of the sky" that has long dominated the airspace chosen to "descend from the sky" and enter the highly competitive red ocean of the robotic vacuum cleaner market, which is already crowded with giants?
With drone growth hitting a ceiling, DJI breaks the deadlock with a "mass - market product"
DJI's 2024 financial report was quite impressive: its revenue exceeded 80 billion yuan, a year - on - year increase of 35%, and its net profit reached 12 billion yuan. The global market share of its consumer drones exceeded 70%.
But to be honest, the growth curve of the drone market is not optimistic.
The core user groups of drones, such as photographers, travelers, and technology enthusiasts, have reached saturation. The industry is expanding towards larger - scale and functional models, but for ordinary consumers, drones are still essentially a category of "non - essential, high - decision - making threshold, and low - repurchase rate".
Therefore, finding a "mass - market product" that can reach a large number of ordinary consumers, has high - frequency usage characteristics, and a broad market foundation has become the key for DJI to break through the growth bottleneck.
Previously, DJI regarded action cameras as an important direction for building its "second growth curve". However, the action camera market itself has a limited scale and slow growth, being a niche category with an obvious ceiling. For future business development directions, such as AI and VR, there is no clear monetization prospect, making it difficult to support DJI's continuous growth momentum. Expanding the product line and seeking more potential new opportunities are imperative.
Moreover, Insta360 emerged in the action camera field and competes evenly with DJI. This unicorn, which was founded only eight years ago, had a revenue of 5.57 billion yuan in 2024, a year - on - year increase of over 50%. In the first quarter of 2025, its revenue exceeded that of GoPro, the pioneer of action cameras, for the first time.
Even more, Insta360's strategy is to "learn from DJI". On July 20th, the technology media PhotoRumors first leaked the appearance photo of Insta360's drone, aiming to compete head - on with DJI in the consumer drone market.
Image source: PhotoRumors
Facing this situation, DJI regards the robotic vacuum cleaner as a key strategic buffer. Its role is not only to open a new revenue channel but also a crucial step for DJI to enter the "mass market" from the "niche and professional" market.
The project of DJI's robotic vacuum cleaner started earlier than we expected. According to Jiadianwang, the R & D cycle of DJI's robotic vacuum cleaner has exceeded five years since the project was launched in 2020.
The internal code name of this project is "Ground Space Intelligent Explorer", and its mission is self - evident: to extend its technological capabilities from the sky to the ground.
However, the project didn't go smoothly at first. DJI postponed the release of the robotic vacuum cleaner in 2023 and 2024 respectively. In May 2024, the project was completely restarted. According to "LatePost", after Wang Tao saw the product planned for launch, he decided not to sell it and directly sell the second - generation product. A DJI insider told them that "it's basically like making a new product".
Wang Tao, the founder of DJI, is well - known in the industry for his strict requirements for products. There is a saying in the industry that the number of projects personally cancelled by Wang Tao "can fill a wall".
ROMO, which has been polished for five years and had its release postponed twice, reflects DJI's cautious attitude towards this ground - based battle. These five years of ROMO's "difficult birth" are not only a period of DJI's technological precipitation but also a period of repeated weighing between strategic determination and market timing.
However, "good things take time" can be regarded as DJI's corporate culture. Just as DJI showed resilience in the Osmo Pocket product line, after five years of iteration, it finally achieved market breakthroughs with its third - generation product, and it was even jokingly called the "electronic Moutai". This long - termism is particularly precious in the consumer electronics industry that pursues quick results.
DJI "descends from the sky" to do intelligent cleaning, with both opportunities and challenges
There is no doubt about DJI's technology. Its strong brand appeal in the global consumer electronics field and its absolute say in core algorithms and motor technology are its core strengths.
On the surface, drones and robotic vacuum cleaners seem to have nothing in common: one soars in the sky to fight against air resistance, and the other moves slowly on the ground around table legs. But at the technical level, they share core modules such as high - performance motors, path planning, and dynamic obstacle - avoidance algorithms.
According to the information exposed by IT Home, DJI's ROMO will be equipped with a lifting LiDAR sensor. It is expected to bring the path planning, visual/laser radar recognition and obstacle - avoidance capabilities accumulated in the drone field into the robotic vacuum cleaner, thus achieving better route planning ability than the industry. This design is regarded as an extension of DJI's "flight genes" on the ground.
Image source: DJI official
In addition to the R & D accumulation, a mature offline channel network is another key card for DJI to enter the high - end robotic vacuum cleaner market.
Judging from DJI's positioning, the estimated price of its first robotic vacuum cleaner is around 4,000 yuan. For products at this price level, they highly rely on experiential consumption. Consumers need to see and operate the products with their own eyes to pay for the intelligence and reliability of high - end products.
The research report data of GF Securities confirms this: In 2024, the average online price of robotic vacuum cleaners was 3,282 yuan, while the average offline price was as high as 4,710 yuan. This clearly shows that the intuitive display and experience in physical stores are the core levers to influence the purchasing decisions of mid - to - high - end consumers.
This is exactly DJI's unique advantage. Its large - scale direct - operated store network covering major Chinese cities and even the sinking market provides a ready - made offline display and experience platform for ROMO, thus significantly reducing the decision - making threshold for high - end consumers and clearing the most crucial channel obstacles for it to quickly enter the offline high - end market.
The real challenge is that the user profiles of robotic vacuum cleaners are very different from those of the drone market.
Drone users are most concerned about hardcore parameters: centimeter - level flight positioning accuracy, ultra - long - distance image transmission stability of several kilometers or even tens of kilometers, wind - resistance ability and attitude control in strong - wind environments, etc., which directly determine whether the drone can complete specific tasks, capture ideal images or data. Therefore, users are willing to pay a premium for these functions.
In contrast, robotic vacuum cleaners are deeply rooted in daily household life scenarios, and their core value lies in providing an almost "unnoticeable" cleaning service experience. The target users are not most concerned about the extreme parameters in the laboratory but whether the product can complete the cleaning work reliably, thoroughly, and worry - free in a real, complex, and changeable household environment.
In other words, these users may not care at all about how "dominant" you are in the sky. Instead, it's safer to buy the leading robotic vacuum cleaner products with proven strength. Therefore, DJI's robotic vacuum cleaner may need time to prove itself.
Despite the numerous challenges, the strategic value of the robotic vacuum cleaner market for DJI cannot be ignored. According to data from Aoweiyun.com, the penetration rate of robotic vacuum cleaners in China was about 5.5% in 2024, far lower than that of traditional household appliances, indicating a huge growth space. At the same time, for DJI, the significance of ROMO goes far beyond a single product line. It is a key part of DJI's construction of the "space intelligence" ecosystem, marking a strategic extension of its technological capabilities from the air to the ground scenario.
It's worth noting that DJI is not the only player expanding its boundaries. Roborock has entered the washing machine and washer - dryer integrated machine market, and Dreame Technology has comprehensively deployed in the large - household - appliance fields such as air conditioners, refrigerators, and washing machines.
The industry boundaries are disappearing, and a comprehensive intelligent competition around the home space has begun.
With thorns everywhere, can DJI become the "catfish" in the industry?
The robotic vacuum cleaner market is divided among giants, and products from Dreame, Yunjing, etc., are highly competitive. When DJI enters the market, there are both thorns and dawn.
According to an IDC report, the global robotic vacuum cleaner market reached $9.31 billion in 2024, a year - on - year increase of 19.7%, with a shipment volume of 20.603 million units. In the first quarter of 2025, the global shipment volume of intelligent robotic vacuum cleaners was 5.096 million units, a year - on - year increase of 11.9%, and the shipment volume growth rate exceeded 20% for two consecutive quarters.
In the first quarter of 2025, Roborock, Ecovacs, Dreame, Xiaomi, and iRobot ranked in the top 5 in the global shipment of intelligent robotic vacuum cleaners, with market shares of 19.3%, 13.6%, 11.3%, 9.9%, and 9.3% respectively. The shipments of the top 5 manufacturers accounted for 63.4% of the overall market, a 3.5% increase compared to the same period last year.
What's more noteworthy is that the top four are all Chinese manufacturers, jointly capturing 54.1% of the global market.
Image source: Dreame official
However, behind the high - growth figures is an extremely fierce competitive environment. The iteration of new products is "rushing forward", and the R & D cycle has been extremely compressed, from the previous one - generation - every - 2 - 3 - year to "one or even two generations a year", with a pace comparable to that of the new - energy vehicle market.
At the same time, although the industry has made huge investments, there is a lack of breakthrough innovation, and "micro - innovation" has become the mainstream. Even if a new technology emerges, it is often quickly imitated and popularized by competitors within 3 - 6 months and becomes the "standard" in the industry. This directly leads to serious product homogenization, falling into the vicious cycle of "parameter competition, function stacking, and user aesthetic fatigue", and it has become extremely difficult to break through with differentiation.
DJI's entry into the market may have a positive impact on the industry objectively.
Firstly, its differentiated strategy focusing on the core intelligent experience is expected to prompt competitors to re - examine the innovation direction, from simply piling up functions to solving the actual pain points of users.
Secondly, its attitude of insisting on long - term product polishing provides a sample for the industry to resist "fast - consumption - product - like" development, reminding the market that user experience and reliability are the fundamentals of long - lasting competitiveness.
Thirdly, as a brand with a global vision and influence, DJI's participation helps to further enhance the overall image and voice of the Chinese robotic vacuum cleaner industry in the global high - end market.
Generally speaking, when DJI enters the battlefield with ROMO, its greatest value lies not only in whether it can quickly get a share of the market but also in whether it can, with its technological genes and brand influence, open up a new track that values "basic functions" and "long - term experience" in the red ocean, bringing in - depth thinking about the innovation direction and value return to the highly competitive industry.
Actually, not only we but also the market is observing whether DJI can, with its global sales network and offline store advantages, break through the increasingly competitive robotic vacuum cleaner market among strong competitors like Yunjing, Roborock, and Ecovacs.
The battle on the ground requires more endurance than that in the air. Whether Wang Tao's "knife" that has cancelled countless projects can cut a path for ROMO in the red ocean this time will determine whether DJI can truly transform from the "king of the sky" to the "strongman on the ground".
This article is from the WeChat official account "Lei Technology", author: Lei Technology. It is published by 36Kr with authorization.