According to the "Global Quarterly Tracking Report on Smart Home Devices Market, Q1 2024" released by IDC on June 25, the global shipment volume of smart sweeping robots in the first quarter of 2024 reached 45.54 million units, a year-on-year increase of 11.1%. In this prosperous market environment, Roborock Technology (688169.SH) not only ranks first in the shipment ranking of Chinese manufacturers, but also achieves a year-on-year growth of 18.3% by virtue of its innovative products and strong market strategy. This performance not only reflects Roborock Technology's leading position in technology and product strength, but also demonstrates its strong competitiveness and brand influence in the global market.

In the global market of smart sweeping robots, Roborock Technology and other Chinese manufacturers jointly promote the increase of the overall market share. According to the report, the cumulative shipment share of Chinese manufacturers exceeds 63%.

From the report, we can learn that Roborock Technology, Ecovacs Robotics, Xiaomi, Anker Innovations Technology, Chuwi, Robosea, Le Fan and Asia Vets and other Chinese manufacturers have successfully entered the top ten list in the world, with their Q1 shipments increasing by 18.3%, 4.3%, 22.9%, 15.5%, 31.9%, 38.7%, 10.6% and 14.5% respectively year-on-year, and their total share has clearly increased. Especially among Chinese manufacturers, Roborock Technology ranks first in terms of shipments, further consolidating its market leadership position with its outstanding product strength and rapid market response capabilities. The further expansion of Roborock Technology in overseas markets is also constantly playing a positive role in the company's performance. According to Roborock Technology's Q1 2024 financial report, the company achieved operating income of 1.841 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 58.69%, and a net profit attributable to the parent company of 399 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 95.23%. The non-recurring net profit was 342 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 110.03%, and the domestic and foreign incomes were nearly the same. The financial report explains that during the reporting period, the company's advantages in actively developing domestic and foreign markets were further extended and expanded. Through channel deepening and rational layout, the sales volume of the company's products has significantly increased compared with the same period last year, and the improvement of operating performance and profitability has also brought about an increase in operating cash inflow.

From the report, although iRobot still ranks among the top in the global market share of smart sweeping robots, its Q1 shipment volume decreased by 13.2% year-on-year. It is not difficult to find that iRobot occupies the leading position in the US, Japan, the United Kingdom and Canada markets relying on its brand influence, but Roborock Technology is gradually narrowing the gap with its fast iteration and innovation capabilities.

It is understood that Roborock Technology's performance in the Asia-Pacific and Central and Eastern Europe regions is particularly outstanding, showing its strong expansion power in the international market. IDC stated that the United States is still the largest market for current smart sweeping robots, although Chinese manufacturers have superior product strength and faster iteration speed, their market share in the US market is relatively low due to multiple factors such as local brands' accumulated channel resources, brand influence, etc. However, it is worth noting that Roborock Technology successfully entered Target's offline physical retail channel in the United States in 2023 and is expected to enter more than 1,000 Target stores in 2024. With the high-performance and cost-effective advantages of its products, Roborock Technology is expected to achieve a breakthrough in the US market in the future. In addition, according to Euromonitor International data, Roborock Technology's sweeping robot achieved global sales of the first in 2023.

Behind the favor of the global market is the significant improvement of Roborock Technology's product strength in 2024. Especially in the high-end market, products with a unit price of more than 600 US dollars have more intense competition. Roborock Technology's all-round products have won market recognition with their outstanding performance. All-round sweeping robots such as G20S and V20 have functions such as self-cleaning and self-dust collection, small circular hands can accurately clean the corner areas, double spiral rolling brushes can effectively prevent hair entanglement, maintenance-free dust collection system, and suction power of more than 10,000pa, hot air drying and automatic addition of antibacterial solution, making cleaning more efficient and thorough. In addition, Roborock Technology has also made significant progress in algorithmic capabilities. The introduction of intelligent recognition of dirt level, full-range all-environment dynamic navigation, the world's first solid-state lidar navigation and obstacle avoidance technology with dual light sources, AI binoculars, 3D TOf and other functions makes the sweeping robot more intelligent and better adapts to complex home environments. These technology upgrades not only improve the user experience, but also further enhance Roborock Technology's leading position in the global market.

From a global perspective, according to Zhao Siquan, a senior analyst at IDC China, the intelligent sweeping robot industry is still in a period of accelerated growth, and the product penetration rates in various regions around the world are not ideal, with huge potential. Chinese manufacturers have strong product capabilities, excellent cost control capabilities, long layout time, and mature capabilities in both software and hardware, making them an excellent track for the current smart home hardware to go global. Domestic manufacturers should focus on product quality, increase e-commerce marketing promotion in various regions, accelerate the construction of offline channels, and seize the opportunity window.