As an important part of the smart home appliance camp, the smart sweeping robot uses artificial intelligence to automatically clean the floor in the room, bringing convenience to the cleaning and housework after busy work. Specifically, this is mainly reflected in the following three aspects.
First of all, to help people achieve their hands free. From mops to vacuum cleaners to intelligent sweeping robots, the traditional cleaning methods of Chinese households have been changed through technological innovation.
Secondly, fully automated and personalized appointments. Smart sweeping robots can be said to inherit the characteristics of smart homes. Smart sweeping robots of mainstream brands have these two functions. After setting through the APP, the smart sweeping robot can clean the room regularly according to the preset route and time.
Finally, it can reach the cleaning dead corner that cannot be reached by conventional cleaning tools. Because the intelligent sweeping robot has a compact shape, it can easily reach the bottom of the bed, the bottom of the sofa, the bottom of the table and other low or blind areas of the home for detailed cleaning, which is very helpful to avoid the breeding of mites and bacteria and maintain a healthy home environment.
However, the early intelligent sweeping robots were not satisfactory in terms of product experience. Because the early product was a random intelligent sweeping robot, because it was impossible to construct a cleaning map, it was prone to missed sweeps and repeated sweeps, resulting in low cleaning efficiency and poor user experience, which restricted the market penetration rate of intelligent sweeping robots. In addition, although navigation and positioning were added later, inertial navigation relied on inertial sensors such as gyroscopes, accelerometers and other inertial sensors to obtain information such as position and speed, and was upgraded to a planned intelligent sweeping robot. However, such products have low accuracy and easy navigation errors. .
Until 2015 to 2018, brands such as iRobot, Rock, and Cobos respectively launched stable mass-produced global planning products based on the upgraded application of SLAM technology, allowing intelligent sweeping robots to open the era of precise positioning and planning of walking. Since its development, the practical performance and user experience of intelligent sweeping robots have been qualitatively improved. The previously criticized "slots" have been solved well, and the functions can meet the basic cleaning needs and have been recognized by consumers.
Data source: China State Grid based on consumer survey data
According to consumer survey data from China State Grid, among the people who have used smart sweeping robots, 62.8% of respondents said they need smart sweeping robots, 36.2% said they are dispensable, and only 1 % Of respondents said they don’t need it at all. Practically speaking, more than 60% of the interviewees believe that smart sweeping robots have brought them a lot of convenience in their lives.
From the perspective of product iteration, taking the domestic mainstream brand products in 2020 as an example, Cobos's Dibao series has deployed "d-tof lidar + AIVI visual recognition" technology, and Stone's T7 series pioneered the use of "AI binocular obstacle avoidance". ＋LDS laser navigation technology program”, Japan’s Yuri’s V980 series has innovatively designed customized “LDS laser navigation + ASAR dynamic path planning” technology, which allows intelligent sweeping robots to further improve the environment and obstacle recognition and achieve cleanliness It does not miss the sweep completely, and it is more balanced than manual cleaning.
In addition to the above improvements, the maintenance-free and mopping functions of the intelligent sweeping robot have also been upgraded simultaneously. Among them, Japan's Yuri launched the "Sweep and Mop Real-time Synchronization" and automatic dust collection system, which solved the user's trouble of replacing the cleaning module and manually cleaning the dust box garbage; Cobos successively launched the Blue Whale cleaning system and high-frequency vibration cleaning system. The ground can be wiped deeply; Yunjing introduced the "10N down-pressure cleaning" + "automatic cleaning mop" function, which uses the centrifugal force of the mop to quickly rotate to remove stubborn stains.
It is precisely the breakthroughs and innovations in products represented by the above-mentioned brands that have allowed smart sweeping robots to once again receive the attention of consumers. Not only have they achieved outstanding market performance in 2020, but also achieved steady progress in the first quarter of 2021. increase. According to data from Aowei Cloud Network, in 2020, the sales of intelligent sweeping robots will be 6.54 million units, and the sales scale will increase by 18%, reaching 9.4 billion yuan. In March-April 2021, Cobos, Yunjing, Xiaomi, Stone, The five major brands headed by Yuli have consistently ranked TOP5 in the industry as their market share.
Data source: Ovi Data
As the number of market participants becomes more and more, Yuri and Yunjing of Japan, as typical representatives of rookie players, not only realized the explosive development of the brand itself in a short period of time, but also firmly established a place in the market. Being able to bravely break through the situation of a group of heroes, the two have in common in these aspects:
In terms of technical strength, the Yuli brand R&D center not only has dozens of top R&D personnel in the industry, but also maintains long-term cooperation with Japanese new designers; Yunjing has a research team of 120 people, most of whom are from Alibaba, DJI, Foxconn and other companies have accumulated a lot of relevant industry experience.
In terms of product development, both Yuri and Yunjing have deeply plowed the real needs of consumers, and are committed to winning the market by innovatively designing products that can touch the pain points of users.
In terms of marketing layout, they all seize the e-commerce live broadcast outlet, cleverly construct a live broadcast matrix through the head anchors, celebrity live broadcasts, and store self-broadcasting methods, and use anchors to bring sales, celebrity voices, and store stickiness. The three parties joined forces to quickly expand the brand's reputation. At the same time, they also launched large-scale grass-planting on platforms such as Xiaohongshu and Douyin, which attracted countless fans.
According to statistics, the current penetration rate of intelligent sweeping robots in my country is only about 5%, while the penetration rate of intelligent sweeping robots in the United States has exceeded 16%. However, whether it is in developed markets represented by the United States or emerging markets represented by China, smart sweeping robots are currently in the process of transforming from a "niche product" to a "mass product" and will continue to maintain rapid growth.
At the same time, intelligent sweeping robots, as household appliances used frequently, are easy to get started but difficult to do well. Smart cleaning products with high cost performance that rely on AI technology have always been consumers' expectations. In the future, driven by artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things, the application of intelligent sweeping robot products will become more mature and will inevitably become a new driving force leading the growth of the smart home appliance industry.