Ecovacs was not optimistic in its Q3 report with revenue decline of 8.18% and net profits down 64.75%.
The cash flow shrunk and stock quantity soared as shown in anther chart.
Insiders rumored variously.
The vacuum market was indeed sluggish in 2019. Quite a few factories of vacuum and robot cleaners saw 20-40% lower in overall capacity compared to 2018. Shenzhen OEM factories were even largely put on the verge of bankruptcy.
The trade war, stock market decline and new swarms of competitors are all to blame, though it is hard to say which dominates.
Roborock, arch rival of Ecovacs, was under the weather, too. A hearsay was that it will not relate to MI as before since the latter may shift its priority support to another brand.
A good case in point is that in MI eco-chain, laser robot cleaners developed by Roborock are currently marked as Viomi, while visual navigation products are from Dreame. Up to now, Hansme’s 3irobotix has probably been the biggest winner in robot cleaner in 2019.
Will the year of 2020 be easier?
As a saying goes, the year of 2019 was the worst of the past decade and the best of the coming one.
In the long run, vacuums and robot cleaners are on the rise and an open window of two to three years in my view is expected to enable a few brands to stand out.
An enterprise has got admission to the era of cordless vacuum. I have nothing to say about the name in case of offending some groups.
A portable electric screwdriver WX240 on Taobao.com was available from Worx owned by Positec Group, an electric tool supplier I fancy.
Satisfied at the first sight, I did not hesitate to place an order.
Positec Group has been a legend in electric tools. Its founder Gao Zhendong started with trade before factory setup, and developed directly from OEM to a self-owned brand.
It has brought quite a few innovations in recent years:
High-pressure water gun that taught a lesson to Kärcher, a traditional business committed to high-pressure cleaner;
And automatic robot mower that came in the top rank.
Both are its cash cow operations.
I admire enterprises that keep innovating its products and the more, the better, which are true words without advertising fees charged.
