DJI's floor sweepers can't follow the old path.

On August 6th, DJI officially launched its first series of floor-cleaning robots, ROMO. This has caused quite a stir in the industry and quickly sparked polarized market discussions.

Supporters expect DJI to bring breakthroughs to the floor-cleaning robot industry with its strong R & D capabilities, just as it revolutionized the consumer drone market back then. Before the launch, the number of product reservations on DJI's official JD store had exceeded 60,000, which is quite rare for new floor-cleaning robot products.

However, doubts have also emerged, with the focus on price. The ROMO series includes three models: ROMO P, ROMO A, and ROMO S (both water tank versions and automatic water supply and drainage versions are available). The starting price of the entry-level DJI ROMO S (water tank version) is 4,699 yuan, with national subsidies available. The top - of - the - line ROMO P (automatic water supply and drainage version) is priced at 7,399 yuan. Compared with mainstream products in the industry, this pricing range makes consumers' decision - making costs relatively high.

Is this product worth the price? Let's first step out of the discussion of a single brand and take a look at the current situation of the entire industry.

From the consumers' perspective, before buying a floor - cleaning robot, they are often dazzled by complex parameter introductions, resulting in high pre - purchase decision - making costs. After purchase, they find that the maintenance costs are also very high.

One of the reasons behind this is that the pricing logic of the entire industry presents two extremes: on one end, there is a fierce price war, where brands sacrifice profits to gain market share; on the other end, there is a "gimmicky" high - end strategy, where products' average prices are increased by "stacking" configurations. In the end, cheap products are not worry - free, and expensive ones may not necessarily be good.

In this context, DJI's decision to raise the price of its floor - cleaning robot products actually does not exceed the expectations of some industry insiders. After all, in the drone field, DJI established a positive logic for high pricing through hardcore technology and disruptive user experiences. Whether this logic still holds in the floor - cleaning robot industry remains to be verified by the product itself.

An investor told "Dingjiao One" that DJI's transparent appearance design for this product is not so much a display of technology as a response to the current lack of transparency in the industry. By means of "visible transparency", it replaces the past parameter stacking that users couldn't understand or see clearly.

From the project's initiation in 2021 to its launch in 2025, the ROMO series has gone through a research and development cycle of more than four years. Now that the product is on the market, what changes will this global technology giant in the drone field bring to the floor - cleaning robot industry? Will it "regulate" the industry, or will it be "educated" by the industry? I believe the market will soon give an answer.

Does the floor - cleaning robot industry really need new players?

"Although I really need a floor - cleaning robot, I haven't bought one yet." This may be the voice of many consumers. The contradiction between having a demand but delaying the purchase raises the question: what problem does this illustrate?

To understand this dilemma, we first need to look at the current situation of the floor - cleaning robot market.

Data shows that in the first quarter of 2025, the shipment volume of floor - cleaning robots in China was 1.188 million units, and the growth rate has exceeded 20% for two consecutive quarters. It seems prosperous, but this wave of growth has largely benefited from policies.

A channel insider said, "Since the second half of last year, the 'trade - in' subsidy has driven up sales." Until the second quarter of 2025, the performance of leading manufacturers has benefited from this policy dividend.

Meanwhile, the overall penetration rate of the Chinese market is about 6%, lower than 15% in the United States and far lower than that of the domestic traditional home appliance market. On the one hand, this means great market potential; on the other hand, it also shows that current products have not really won over most families. This is not entirely due to insufficient market education; there are more complex industry dilemmas behind it.

The top five brands, Ecovacs, Roborock, Yunjing, Xiaomi, and Dreame, together account for nearly 90% of the domestic market share. However, in this highly concentrated market pattern, a confusing phenomenon has emerged: "Sales have increased, and market share has grown, but the profits of enterprises are declining," the above - mentioned investor said.

Image source / pexels

Taking leading enterprises as an example, Ecovacs' revenue in 2024 was 16.5 billion yuan, but its net profit was only 800 million yuan, less than half of its peak in 2021. The situation of Roborock is also typical: in 2024, its revenue increased significantly by 38% to 11.9 billion yuan, but its net profit decreased by 4%.

The reason, according to the investor, is that some manufacturers have to sacrifice profits in the price war to seize market share, while also bearing high R & D and marketing costs. When enterprises focus on marketing and price wars rather than technological innovation, the industry easily falls into a stock competition, "You grab my market share, and I lower the price." Market data also confirms this phenomenon: the market shares of two leading manufacturers in the market have been "one rising while the other falling" recently.

This internal strife is ultimately reflected in the product level. A senior industry insider in the floor - cleaning robot industry analyzed that all - in - one charging stations have become mainstream in the domestic market, and the functions of products from different brands are becoming more and more similar. Since the industry's competition focus is on quickly seizing market share, the product R & D cycle has been compressed shorter and shorter. After a new technology emerges, it is often quickly imitated by competitors within 3 - 6 months. On the contrary, real breakthrough innovation is becoming rarer because of high trial - and - error costs and long cycles.

If you search for users' evaluations of floor - cleaning robots on social media, you will find that common complaints include poor obstacle avoidance, streaks after mopping, water leakage from the charging station, hair entanglement, incomplete cleaning of corners, and high maintenance costs.

Based on the above analysis, two conclusions can be drawn: first, the floor - cleaning robot industry lacks innovation, and players are all desperately seeking a second growth point; second, mainstream floor - cleaning robot products fail to meet users' requirements of "truly clean and truly worry - free", and people's acceptance of innovative products is increasing. As long as the products can truly solve problems, they are willing to pay.

In short, the industry has reached a "turning point that needs change".

When an industry is trapped in a quagmire of "involution" and price wars, it often needs an outsider to break the deadlock. Tesla in the automotive industry and Apple in the mobile phone industry are both classic examples. What the floor - cleaning robot industry needs is definitely not more participants in the price war, but innovators who can lead the industry into a higher - level competition.

So, does DJI meet the requirements?

Has DJI's floor - cleaning robot lived up to expectations?

Combining the views of interviewees, an innovative player that can influence the industry should pass the tests in terms of technological advantages, product concepts, and brand influence. Let's examine this company from three dimensions.

Regarding whether DJI has the technological advantages required for floor - cleaning robots, there are two different views in the industry.

The supporters believe that this is a typical cross - border technology transfer. A technology - focused industry insider said that drones need to navigate and avoid obstacles in three - dimensional space, while floor - cleaning robots only need to work on a two - dimensional plane, so the technological advantages can be reused.

Drones are essentially aerial robots, and floor - cleaning robots are ground robots. There are indeed natural technological commonalities between the two in terms of navigation, obstacle avoidance, and control algorithms. DJI's core technologies accumulated in the drone field, such as path planning, obstacle recognition and avoidance, and high - performance motor control, can be directly applied to floor - cleaning robots. "The perception algorithm that can avoid branches can also bypass charging cables; the motor technology that enables stable and fast flight can also ensure flexible and quiet cleaning," the above - mentioned industry insider explained.

However, there are also different views. Some believe that the two products are fundamentally different. The core of drones is to handle high - speed obstacle avoidance in dynamic environments, such as avoiding branches and wires, and their obstacle - avoidance systems are designed to be "non - contact". In contrast, the core of floor - cleaning robots is to identify objects in static environments, such as debris and pet feces, and they need to actively contact the ground for cleaning.

The key is that the focus of competition in the current floor - cleaning robot market has changed. "With the core functions basically determined, the competition is no longer about underlying technologies, but about the comprehensive strength in various aspects such as market promotion, brand building, and channel establishment," a market analyst said. What really tests DJI is whether it can transform these technological advantages into product experiences recognized by users.

After all, the needs of floor - cleaning robot users are very different from those of drone users. Drone users are most concerned about hardcore parameters, while floor - cleaning robot users are more concerned about the actual usage effects of products in complex home environments.

For this reason, the outside world is particularly concerned about DJI's product concept this time.

There are two reasons. On the one hand, DJI's founder, Frank Wang, is well - known in the industry for his strict requirements for products. There is a saying in the industry that the number of projects he personally canceled "can fill a whole wall". On the other hand, "Judging from DJI's innovation in the drone field, this is a company that truly knows how to transform complex technologies into user value," the aforementioned investor said.

"In the consumer electronics industry that pursues quick results, DJI has a great advantage: it is not in a hurry." In the view of the aforementioned technology - focused industry insider, DJI's R & D process for the floor - cleaning robot project shows that its product concept is indeed a bit different.

In the selection of the cleaning solution, DJI initially tried the floor - washing machine solution, using a roller and a sewage tank design. However, in actual tests, it was found that there were problems such as hair entanglement and difficult maintenance, and the user experience was not ideal.

"The roller cleaning solution has stronger cleaning power than double - mop solutions in some scenarios. However, later we found that the sewage tank and hanging strips in the machine were prone to accumulate dirt and entangle hair, requiring manual intervention," the product manager of DJI's floor - cleaning robot project admitted in an internal interview. "Our original intention was to create a floor - cleaning robot that is the most worry - free. Cleanliness is the foundation, and worry - free operation is very important."

So, DJI resolutely abandoned this solution and switched to the "double - mop solution" of sweeping first and then mopping, which better balances cleaning power and maintenance - free performance.

In the intelligent solution, DJI also adjusted its technical route. Initially, it adopted the industry - level high - precision radar solution of point cloud plus lidar. However, this solution was costly (with an estimated cost of over a thousand yuan) and had deficiencies in close - range accuracy. For example, it could clearly "see" a standing toothpick, but might not be able to recognize it when it was lying on the ground. "In home scenarios, most obstacles are lying flat on the ground," the above - mentioned product manager said.

Image source / DJI official website

After repeated testing and optimization, DJI finally switched to a solution of dual - light solid - state lidar plus binocular vision obstacle recognition. Although it seems "low - key", it is exactly following the idea of fundamentally solving problems and has found a balance between stability and cost - effectiveness.

Even the highly - concerned transparent appearance design reflects this user - value - oriented concept. Some people think that the transparent design is not an industry first. However, compared with making mobile phones or computers transparent, which only requires showing the circuit board, floor - cleaning robots need to handle complex systems such as air, water, and electricity, and the engineering difficulty is completely different.

More importantly, this transparent design is not only a visual differentiation but also an emphasis on users' trust. When users can intuitively see the modular layout inside the charging station, the well - hidden wires, and the clear internal and external partition design, this visible credibility can build trust, which is itself part of the product value.

Besides technology and concept, brand power is also the key to breaking through in the floor - cleaning robot market.

"If Apple launched a floor - cleaning robot, I would definitely buy it." This kind of mentality of consumers reflects the "brand trust gap" in the current floor - cleaning robot market.

Among the existing major brands, Ecovacs started from OEM manufacturing, Roborock emerged from the Xiaomi ecosystem, and emerging brands like Yunjing are mostly startup companies. They have technological accumulations, but their brand images are difficult to arouse emotional value among some consumers.

In contrast, DJI, as a global technology brand, has a technological label and a good quality reputation. Before the launch, the number of product reservations on DJI's official JD store was nearly 60,000, indicating that consumers' trust and expectations for this brand are indeed very high.

Of course, DJI also faces significant challenges when entering this market. The aforementioned technology industry insider said that the algorithms of floor - cleaning robots rely heavily on data from users' home scenarios, which is the moat that existing leading players have accumulated over the years. DJI still needs time to accumulate in this aspect.

Overall, from technical strength, product concept to brand influence, DJI indeed has the potential to be the "catfish" in the industry. So, can it bring changes to the industry as it did when it entered the drone industry?

What can DJI bring to the industry?

After DJI entered the market, some new trends have emerged in the industry. The most obvious change is reflected in the product direction, which has shifted from "stacking parameters" to "emphasizing user experience".

"As DJI's product launch approached, the pace of the entire industry changed." An industry insider revealed that manufacturers are accelerating product iteration. In the second half of 2024, Roborock launched the P20 Pro and G20s Ultra, with an obstacle - crossing height of up to 4 cm; Ecovacs released the X8 Pro Plus AI, equipped with an infinitely - hovering roller and a flexible telescopic side brush; Dreame launched the X50, with bionic mechanical feet capable of crossing obstacles up to 6 cm high. These innovations all point in one direction: improving the cleaning completion rate in complex environments.

"Previously, people compared suction power in pascals and battery capacity in milliamp - hours. Now, they compare actual usage experiences, such as whether the robot can cross thresholds and clean corners." The above - mentioned industry insider said that this change is beneficial for users because these functions can indeed improve the actual experience.

A deeper impact lies in guiding the industry to re - think the relationship between value and price.

For a long time, the floor - cleaning robot industry has been accustomed to competing for market share through price wars, partly due to competitive pressure and partly because products that can truly solve users' pain points are scarce.

Dyson also tried a high - end pricing strategy before. The WashG1 launched in 2023 was priced at 4,999 yuan, and the 360 Vis Nav in 202