Chinese manufacturers of household cleaning robots are gaining dominance, with the country’s major five players now holding 70% of the global market as the companies compete on unique features rather than price alone.
The Saros Rover being developed by Roborock can climb stairs, using two legs that extend from the bottom of the robot to lift its front wheel onto surfaces higher than the robot is tall.
The smart vacuum’s Beijing-based manufacturer aims to mass produce the model within a few years. The climbing feature would make it the world’s first robot vacuum able to cover multiple floors.
Roborock was established in 2014 by a software engineer with experience at both US tech giant Microsoft and Chinese internet titan Tencent Holdings. The company led the global market with a 27% share in the second half of last year, US-based research firm IDC reports, and also holds a leading share in major developed markets including the US, Germany, and South Korea.
The company posted revenue of nearly RMB 18.7 billion (USD 2.8 billion) for 2025, of which 56% came from overseas.
“We’ve established Roborock’s reputation as a source of premium products,” said Lu Cheng, the company’s head of product promotion.
Chinese companies tend to start by building a position in the massive domestic market and then breaking into new markets by competing on price. Smartphones and electric vehicles are classic examples of this strategy.
But a key feature of these smart vacuum makers is their focus on proprietary technology over price. Japanese prices for the flagship models of the top three Chinese companies are all higher than that of early player iRobot.
Ecovacs Robotics, ranked third by market share in the second half of 2025, followed the traditional playbook at first. The group debuted in 1998 as an original equipment manufacturer for foreign vacuum cleaner companies. But in the late 2000s, Ecovacs created its own cleaning robot brand and shifted focus to technology.
“We realized that if we continued to compete on price, the cost pressure would keep us from creating innovative products,” said Ma Xiaodong, Asia Pacific regional manager at Ecovacs.
Indeed, the company’s market share was not won on price. The early introduction of new capabilities including robots with both vacuuming and mopping functions, as well as automatic emptying and mop cleaning and drying, was a big factor.
Dreame Technology, in second place, is racing to be the first to introduce a model that can extend an arm with a 33-centimeter reach to move obstacles encountered while cleaning to a designated location.
Customers often complain that spaces need to be cleared before robots can clean them. The model can move toys, shoes, and other items weighing up to 500 grams out of the way to clean, adding convenience for households with kids.
“Users pay for our unique technologies,” said Dai Qian, who handles Japan, South Korea, and Australia at Dreame. “We don’t get involved in price competition.” The company targets a 10% market share in Japan this year, up from an estimated 2%.
Some major players such as mobile battery maker Anker Innovations and drone giant DJI also have entered the market, expanding China’s overall share. At the end of last year, US-based iRobot, pioneering the global market with its Roomba, came under Chinese ownership following bankruptcy protection.
This article first appeared on Nikkei Asia. It has been republished here as part of 36Kr’s ongoing partnership with Nikkei.
Note: RMB figures are converted to USD at rates of RMB 6.78 = USD 1 based on estimates as of July 27, 2026, unless otherwise stated. USD conversions are presented for ease of reference and may not fully match prevailing exchange rates.