(Report Producer: Shenwan Hongyuan Research).
1.1 The main sales area of sweepers has grown steadily, and the competition pattern is better
Compared with the relatively "involution" sweeper domestic market, the global sweeper industry has a broad space and a better pattern. After 2010, the trend of consumption upgrading in Europe and the United States has become prominent, and the consumption power of major overseas countries has gradually increased. According to Euromonitor, the global clean appliances market size is growing steadily, reaching $27.1 billion in 2022, with a CAGR of 51%。In terms of categories, the proportion of high-end and advanced technology attribute categories represented by sweeping robots has increased rapidly, and the sales volume of the sweeper industry has increased from 5 in 2009$800 million to 650 billion US dollars, accounting for 40% to 240%, and the contribution of traditional cylindrical vacuum cleaners dropped from more than half to 257%。Compared with the domestic market, the replacement of the all-round base station was completed earlier, and the demand was stimulated by the first exploration, the overall market and main sales areas of overseas sweepers still maintained stable growth, and the proportion of all-round models was still low, the substitution had not yet been completed, the brand competition was not high, the market space was broad, and the pattern was better.
Sweepers in the United States have grown steadily, and key European countries have performed outstandingly. In terms of regions, Asia-Pacific, North America, and Europe are the main sales areas for sweepers. The market size in 2022 is 27$0.0 billion (an increase of 88%), and 16$700 million (up 1.4 billion year-over-year.)5%), 15$500 million (down 6. year-over-year.)5%, mainly affected by geopolitical conflicts). China, Japan, South Korea in the Asia-Pacific region have a higher share, since 2009, Japan and South Korea sweeper market have shown a slow growth in market size, the average price is flat or even a downward trend, Japan, South Korea 10 years sales CAGR was 36%/10.3%, lower than North America, other key countries in Europe, mainly due to the fierce competition between Japanese and Korean brands and products, and a certain gap between consumption power and Europe and the United States. The U.S. sweeper market has maintained a steady growth trend, with a sales CAGR of 17 in 10 years8%, in terms of average price, the position of the local brand is relatively stable, and its sales are mainly based on mid-end price products, so the average price is slightly lower than that of Japan, South Korea, Europe and other major countries in other regions. The European market is more fragmented, can be divided into Western Europe, Northeast Europe, Southern Europe three parts, Western Europe gathered sweeper sales of major countries and growth rate, France, Spain, Italy 10 years sales CAGR was 67%/17.9%/15.0%；Germany is an outstanding market in Northeast Europe, leading in scale and growth rate, with a CAGR of 26 in 10 years3%, Sweden, Norway and other factors affected by population and other factors, the scale is second to the key markets in Western Europe;Southern European brands are strong and relatively small.
The local brand of sweepers in the United States is strong, and according to Adtarg Compass+ data, the market share of iRobot will reach 47 in 20220%, as a local brand with a long history of development, has strong advantages in the next channel and consumer cognition, and the share is relatively concentrated, and the market share of China's dominant brand EUFY stone (Roborock) is 244%/12.4% followed;The key European countries represented by Germany are Roborock's advantageous penetration areas, and the market share of Roborock iRobot in Germany in 2022 is 243%/22.0%, located in the No. 1.
1, 2 digits;Countries such as the United Kingdom are showing a multi-brand competitive landscape, with the top five brands iRobot iLife Ecovacs Euffy Roborock each accounting for 302%/23.0%/14.4%/6.3%/3.9%。
1.2 Areas with lower sweeper penetration and higher CAGR in 5 years have more growth potential
Considering the market size, penetration rate, compound growth rate and other perspectives, we believe that Poland, Portugal and South Korea are the regions with strong growth potential in the global sweeper market. Poland and Portugal belong to the same European region, the sweeper market size is moderate, and both have a low penetration rate, 5 years of compound growth rate (penetration rate of about 5%, 5 years CAGR of more than 50%), demand side perspective, according to the Allegro report, Polish consumers to fashion (58%), beauty (34%) and electronic products (33%) three categories of preferred consumption type, young people have become the main force of online shopping consumption, which is highly consistent with the sweeper consumer portrait; From the perspective of the supply side, the penetration rate of sweepers in the Polish market is low, the e-commerce platform is developing rapidly, the market as a whole is in the growth stage, and the brand competition is not high. The South Korean market is relatively large, with a compound growth rate of about 40% and a penetration rate of more than 10% within 5 years.
The North American market is relatively mature, with a long history of development, and the penetration rate of the sweeper industry is at the upstream level of the world. The North American market pattern is relatively concentrated, with irobot's share of nearly half, and due to its early entry into the market and its brand power base, it has a great advantage in traditional offline channels. However, from the perspective of comprehensive product strength, there is a certain gap between irobot's product strength and domestic brands, which is reflected in the fact that the comprehensive score of the Amazon platform in the United States is significantly lower than that of some European regions dominated by brands such as Roborock and Ecovacs. Although irobot occupies a dominant position in the market, in recent years, the brand power of domestic brands represented by Roborock, Ecovacs, Dreame Technology, etc. has increased rapidly and has gradually entered offline channels (for example, Roborock officially entered the offline channel in North America in October 2023 and expanded to more than 180 selected target stores), and the share substitution of local brands brings potential space.
2.1 irobot's global expansion road: channel power is the driving force, taking advantage of the initial development of the industry
iRobot is the world's leading manufacturer of sweeping robots, as of 2022, it has sold nearly 50 million consumer robots worldwide, and has a strong influence in various geographical regions around the world, according to the company's announcement, in 2021, iRobot's share in North America, EMEA, and Japan regions was 69%, 43%, and 66% respectively. iRobot's portfolio of solutions features the Connected Home's proprietary technologies and advanced concepts in cleaning, mapping and navigation, human-machine interaction and physical solutions, and has been a leader in the robotics and consumer goods industries for more than 25 years. Founded in the United States in 1990, iRobot was originally a military enterprise, and has successively developed the space exploration robot Genghis (1991), the demining robot Ariel (1996) and the tactical mobile robot iRobot Packbot (1998), which have been used by the military and rescue units in various different occasions. In 2002, iRobot began to enter the consumer market with the launch of the Roomba series of robot vacuums capable of performing floor cleaning tasks. Compared with its traditional manual vacuum cleaner products, Roomba's sweeping robot takes automatic cleaning as its selling point, and pioneers the use of a three-stage cleaning structure of "side brush + roller brush + vacuum cleaner" and random collision navigation technology, quickly entering the local cleaning market in the United States, and entering the European and Asia-Pacific markets in the form of cooperation with dealers, sweeping the world.
1) Relying on the accumulated advantages of military research and development, quickly seize the share of the primary development stage of the global market
Based on four components: the AWARE Robot Intelligence System, real-world dynamic sensors, a user-friendly interface, and a tightly integrated electromechanical design, iRobot delivers fast, low-cost output from robots. In the early stage of the industry, there were gyroscopes and ultrasonic positioning samples developed but not mature and durable, irobot with the household product line to create a "side brush + roller brush + vacuum port" three-stage cleaning structure and random collision navigation technology, quickly occupied the initial market of sweepers. After ten years, iRobot has continued to use the navigation and obstacle avoidance technology of random collision, continuously innovated and iterated in cleaning ability, and led the global competitors in speed and SKU matrix, and rapidly increased its market share in North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region with the technical advantages of AWARE robot intelligent system and three-stage cleaning structure, as well as a wide range of offline dealer + online sales channels, and became an industry leader in the world. In 2013, the company launched the Roomba 800 Series sweeper, featuring revolutionary new AeroForce vacuuming technology that delivers more suction power and better cleaning performance than traditional brushes. The Roomba 800 series quickly took the world by storm, and in 2014 the company achieved 14Revenue increased by 2% and the sweeper business revenue increased by 186%, of which international business grew by 168%, domestic business growth of 218%, and the global sweeper market share reached 63%.
2) Mergers and acquisitions to obtain VSLAM patents, and catch up on the technical side.
The traditional sweeping robot that uses random collision navigation or inertial (gyroscope + accelerometer) navigation has the problem of incomplete cleaning or chaotic cleaning route planning. In 2010, Neat released the sweeping robot NeOxV-11, which uses 360° laser radar (LDS) + SLAM for positioning and navigation. In 2011, Samsung released the N**iBot S, the first to apply VSLAM technology to robot vacuums, equipped with a camera that can capture images at a speed of 30 frames per second. In 2014, Dyson successfully developed the 360 Eye that uses VSLAM to navigate. Since its own R&D team has never made a breakthrough in navigation and obstacle avoidance, iRobot chose to acquire Evolution Robotics in 2012 to obtain a patent for VSLAM technology, and finally launched the Roomba 980 with VSLAM technology in 2015.
3) With the rise of China's sweeper brand, iRobot's competitive pressure is highlighted.
After 2016, the innovation of navigation obstacle avoidance technology and cleaning function of China's own brand sweeper began to enter a stage of rapid development. In 2016, the Mijia sweeping robot was launched, equipped with advanced LDS+SLAM algorithm and the large-scale application of lidar technology for the first time, rebuilding the sweeper market system with a very low market price (1699 yuan). With the world's cutting-edge technology LDS+SLAM and VSLAM technology landing in China, the research and development level of domestic sweeping robots has been in line with the world. In 2020, Ecovacs' new robot vacuum cleaner T8 AIVI was launched, which pioneered the use of high-precision lidar with DTOF technology, and at the same time used AI technology to identify seven common obstacles, adding AI ** butler and voice remote communication functions. In terms of cleaning function, in 2019, Yunjing released the J1 for the first self-cleaning functionIn September 2021, Ecovacs launched the all-round base station X1 series (self-dust collection + self-cleaning) with mop self-cleaning technology, reshaping the product form of sweepers. After irobot took the lead in launching the self-dust collection function in 2018, it has not launched effective innovations in the follow-up, and began to lag behind Chinese sweeper brands in the field of superior cleaning function iteration, and irobot's global share fell to 46% in 2020, with significant share pressure.
Driven by the globalization strategy, irobot's global market share reached 64% in 2016, basically reaching the peak of market share in recent years, and after 2018, irobot's share began to decline rapidly due to the continuous impact of domestic enterprises such as Ecovacs and Roborock's global planning product line and first-class chain advantages. On this basis, in the first stage (2005-2016), irobot quickly penetrated the global regional market through a wide distribution network, and realized the influence of marketing investment on brand building earlierThe second phase (2017-present) is to take control of the local market through the acquisition of distributors in the main sales areas. Based on our experience, we believe that channel power plays an important role in irobot's global expansion.
Phase 1 (2005-2016): Extensive distribution network to quickly penetrate the global market, increase marketing investment to build brand influence
In 2005, iRobot had a network of 19 retailers in North America, representing more than 7,000 stores in the United States, and global sales expanded to more than 40 countries and regions, mainly through a network of domestic distributors to retail stores in various countries, in addition to the company's sales services through distributors and international sales teamsIn 2008, the company further expanded its global business, with international shipments +162% year-on-year, and the proportion of international revenue increased from 15% in 2007 to 38%.In 2013, the proportion of international revenue further increased to 59 due to the expansion of distributors5%；In 2014, the company's household robot products have been sold in more than 50 countries, Sales on Demand Corporation is the company's exclusive distributor in the Japanese market, Robopolis is one of the company's distributors in the European market, responsible for the distribution of Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain and other countries, the two major distributors accounted for 33 percent of revenue in 2013 and 2014 respectively2%/29.8%。It can be seen that irobot plays a significant role in the rapid expansion of global business in the process of offline distribution channels, the rapid expansion of the dealer model, and the cultivation of local teams for distribution management, can quickly penetrate the local market, offline KA and other channels have strict requirements for the first chain, the first system, etc., once the stable entry into the offline channel is easy to build sales barriers.
The rapid expansion of the asset-light dealer model also has the cornerstone of product strength, with irobot product function innovation leading and navigation obstacle avoidance innovation to quickly respond to industry trends. In 2002, iRobot launched the Roomba sweeper, pioneering three-stage cleaning and random collision navigation technology, leading the sweeper market in the worldIn 2010, Neat launched laser navigation and SLAM algorithms, and Samsung launched VSLAM visual navigation, laying the foundation for two major technical paths for navigation and obstacle avoidance in the sweeper industry: laser navigation and visual navigation, iRobot acquired Evolution Robotics in 2012 and acquired VSLAM navigation patents, and launched the first VSLAM navigation product Roomba 980 in 2015, keeping up with the technical path of the global sweeper industry The pace of change and the leading position are solidified.
Although navigation and obstacle avoidance are the followers of the world's leading technology, the rapid iteration of functional innovation is an important competitive force for irobot. Introduced in 2002, Roomba sweepers feature a groundbreaking "three-stage dust removal system" that combines side brushes + roller brushes + suction openings to work on three parts at the same time for optimal cleaning results. Roomba Discovery Series features Dirt Detect, a sensor that automatically identifies areas where dirt is concentrated and automatically initiates focused cleaning to ensure thorough cleaning. Launched in 2011, the Roomba 700 series features the second generation of Aerovac vacuum technology, a dual-airflow design that efficiently rolls up and absorbs floor debris and fine dust while filtering 03 microns of fine dust. The 2013 RoomBa 800 series features AeroForce technology, a dual-glue brush head designed with a brush to prevent the brush head from becoming tangled with the hair during the cleaning process. The 2015 Roomba 900 Series features the Advanced Triple Efficiency Cleaning System, which includes a unique rotating side brush, two main cleaning brushes that rotate in a counter-rotating direction, and a powerful vacuum suction that agitates, sweeps in and removes most types of dirt from the floor. Launched in 2018, the Roomba i7+ pioneered the Clean Base automatic dust collection system, which can automatically suck the dirt in the dust bin of the robot vacuum cleaner into a disposable dust bag, which can hold the dirt of 30 dust bins, so as to realize the automatic cleaning of the dust bin of the robot vacuum cleaner. The 2019 Roomba S9 delivers maximum suction power, automatically activating carpet boost mode when you walk on the carpet to remove dirt and debris from the carpet fibers with maximum suction.
In 2003, iRobot became popular with an advertisement for PepsiCo, which showed the cleaning power of the sweeper, and Roomba's inventory was sold out during the yearThe core goal of the company's marketing is to stimulate consumers' interest in iRobot products, and to use Facebook, Instagram and other social ** sharing as the entry point, through advertising and KOC, KOL sharing and creative ** content to form a spread, improve the retention rate and conversion, and attract consumers to the official website. Enhance the e-commerce functionality of the website and home app to enable users to have a first-time surprise experience, and highlight the brand's personality, story, and values with product features such as "so you can human" and "create a personalized life". In terms of sales channels, a diversified sales system composed of direct sales (including online B2C and B2B), direct sales (retailers) and distribution (distributors) has been formed. In the United States, Canada and other countries, the company mainly relies on a network of retailers to sell its products, supported by an in-house sales and product management team, and some small retail operations are carried out through distributors. Online channels mainly include the official website and Home App, and online products are sold through third-party B2C platforms such as Amazon. The company leads the industry in terms of sales layout of emerging channels, forming a complete marketing chain from brand to new product user activities.
Phase 2 (2017-present): Gain control of the local market through the acquisition of distributors in key sales regions
In 2017, iRobot acquired the distribution business of Tokyo-based Sales on Demand Corporation (SODC) for approximately $16.6 million in cash, opening four new iRobot offices in Japan to directly control pre- and aftermarket activities, including sales, marketing, branding, channel relationships and customer service. In the same year, the company began to grow with about 1The $7 billion acquisition of the largest European distributor, the French company Robopolis SAS (Robopolis), and the opening of new iRobot offices in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain in order to expand the global presence and take more direct control of the global sales system. After the gradual completion of dealer control and acquisition, irobot's regional direct sales proportion gradually increased, that is, after completing the rapid penetration of the global market through dealers, spontaneous + acquisition gradually established self-operated channels, and more channels were in the hands of the company.
However, dealer mergers and acquisitions and other actions have not been able to curb the downward trend of irobot's share, and the company's global share fell by 10pcts to 52% in 2018, the reason for this is that after 2016, the domestic sweeper navigation obstacle avoidance technology has made a breakthrough and is in line with international standards The historical advantage of the product side has been broken, the cornerstone of product strength and the first-mover advantage have been lost, and it is difficult for the channel merger and acquisition reform to produce additional utility.
2.2 Dreame: Fast-growing rookies going overseas, localization quickly establishes advantages
As a rookie in the sweeper industry established in 2017, Dreame Technology's overseas business has become the main income**, and its rapid expansion in overseas markets has important reference significance. In 2015, the Dreame start-up team developed the core motor of the vacuum cleaner - high-speed digital motor, and established Dreame Technology in 2017. At present, the categories include sweeping robots, wireless vacuum cleaners, intelligent floor scrubbers, and high-speed hair dryers, and have entered more than 120 countries and regions such as China, the United States, Germany, France, and South Korea. As of August 2023, Dreame has applied for a total of 4,190 patents worldwide, including 1,443 invention patent applications, including 296 PCT international applications, and has obtained a total of 2,013 authorized patents. The growth of domestic sweepers is a bright brand, and the sales of overseas Amazon platforms have doubled. According to the data of Aowei cloud network online sweeper, in 2022, Dreame's online sales volume and sales volume will reach 69.9 billion yuan, 17840,000 units, 69.4 billion yuan, 15560,000 units, a high year-on-year increase, and the market share of sales increased from 1. in 202108% quickly rose to 2023Q3 by 1432%, the growth rate is significantly ahead of other mainstream brands of sweepers in China. In terms of overseas market expansion, Dreame's revenue in Southeast Asia, Northern Europe, Russian-speaking regions, and Western Europe will increase by more than % in 2022According to Jiuqian Amazon data, Amazon's sales will reach $6.4 million in 2022, and M1-10 will reach $11 million in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 214%.
irobot was founded in the initial stage of the sweeper industry and has a military research and development technology background, fully occupy the first-mover advantage, compared with irobot, the growth of Dreame technology is in the fierce competition stage of the domestic market, and its success in the overseas market is more stage of reference significance. Looking back at Dreame's global market development, we found that localized marketing team and product design are the key to its rapid expansion. Dreame has a professional MI team (market intelligence) and marketing team in overseas markets to realize the feedback loop of each link before, during and after sales, the MI team is responsible for pre-sales market research and research, and has a local marketing team during and after sales, localized marketing and channels, and will cooperate with professional local customer service outsourcers. The localization of all aspects of sales enables Dreame to iterate on products that are more suitable for local consumers and quickly get consumer feedback.
1.Europe, America, Japan and South Korea and other mature markets:
On the product side, European and American families mostly use carpets, and the proportion of pets is high, and pet hair is prone to entanglement and other problems. According to the American Pet Products Association and Morgan Stanley, 66% of U.S. households own a pet;According to the European Pet Food Association and Bloomberg Intelligence, 46% of European households own pets. Dreame's sweepers (such as W10 Pro) and vacuum cleaners (V12, etc.) for Europe and the United States are equipped with the first V-shaped anti-tangle carpet brushJapanese and Korean families are more accustomed to sitting on the floor, so Dreame has launched a soft velvet floor brush for the Japanese and Korean markets with strong cleaning power on smooth floors. The same is echoed in marketing, and the pain points of families with pets and babies are grasped. In Europe, America, Japan and South Korea household cleaning scenes, pet hair, hygienic dead ends, obstacle avoidance and cleaning strength are the most common concerns of users, Dreame around these four themes, released a series of scene solutions to guide the theme of the theme content, through cooperation with Instagram home, pets, life celebrities, shoot real scenes**and**, implant the product into the use of pet families and "with babies".
On the channel side, mature markets such as Europe, America, Japan and South Korea are mainly offline, and Dreame carries out a dual-line layout. Households in Europe, the United States and Japan prefer offline physical stores when purchasing smart home products, according to Statistica Digital Market Insights, online retail sales in Europe accounted for 23% in 2022According to Digital Commerce 360, U.S. online retail sales accounted for 20 percent of the total during the same period9%。Dreame adopts a dual-line layout in the mature markets of Europe, America, Japan and South Korea, with the online layout mainly for e-commerce platforms such as AliExpress and Amazon, as well as independent stations of self-operated brands, and offline mainly as regional overseas distributors and exclusive operations. In 2019, Dreame vacuum cleaners began to enter the European and Korean markets, and in December 2020, they began to enter the local retail channels in Germany, including the main home appliance channels Saturn and Medimax, with an occupancy rate of more than 70% as of July 2021In August 2023, Korea's first offline store officially opened in Starfield Hanam, the largest shopping mall in a single building in South Korea. In Europe, the pricing with distributors is mainly based on the highest average sales volume per product, while in South Korea, the main consideration is cost performance. In 2021H1, the shipment volume of Dreame cordless vacuum cleaners in the German market was three times that of the whole year of 2020, and in June, the D9 sweeper became the best-selling champion in the 200-300 euro price segment of Amazon, France, Italy, and Spain.
2.Southeast Asia Market:
Take advantage of the rise of e-commerce in Southeast Asia and win-win cooperation with local e-commerce. According to the Southeast Asia Internet Economy Report, e-commerce GMV in Southeast Asia will reach US$139 billion in 2023, up 6% year-on-yearIt is expected to reach $186 billion by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 16%. Compared with the domestic e-commerce brand pattern that has been basically formed, Dreame seizes the rapid development stage of e-commerce in the Southeast Asian market and carries out the rapid establishment of brand channels. According to Momentum Works data, Shopee, Dreame's main partner in Southeast Asia's e-commerce platform, reached US$47.9 billion in GMV in 2022, accounting for 37% of the total market GMV, far ahead of other platforms, and ranked first in Indonesia (36%), Malaysia (78%), Singapore (53%), Vietnam (63%), the Philippines (60%) and Thailand (56%). Shopee marketing methods include advertising, live broadcast, resource purchase, off-site drainage, etc., Dreame continues the strategy of holding high and fighting high in each **, and has achieved outstanding results, September 20229 Super Shopping Festival and Shopee exclusively launched the new product L10S Ultra in the Singapore market, which became a hit when it was first releasedIn 2023, Dreame will be the best-selling vacuum cleaner brand on the Shopee platform, with a year-on-year increase of 421%.
Use the marketing gameplay of Southeast Asian e-commerce platforms to realize the closed loop of marketing inside and outside the station. Shopee provides sellers with off-site advertising CPAS (Shopee x Facebook Ads) self-delivery function, that is, off-site traffic such as Facebook is transferred to the Shopee platform to open up the marketing chain. According to Shopee statistics, CPAS increases stores by 70% on average**The average production rate is up to 5 times. In addition, the platform also provides Shopee Marketing Affiliates (AMS), which promotes brands or stores through the platform's more than 2.5 million third-party affiliates and KOLs to achieve a measurable return on marketing investment. In September 20229 During the Super Shopping Festival, Dreame combined CPAS, AMS and Shopee with several ways to play advertising resources on the site, and the new product L10S Ultra achieved explosive growth.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not represent any investment advice from us. To use the information, please refer to the original report. ）
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