When asked about the way to defeat Dyson, I responded that for other brands it is to wait till Dyson has no absolute advantage in motor performance.
As cordless vacuums prevail, newcomers file in the market and keep overturning the industry layout. Who will be the premium runner at home?
“Premium brand” can be defined differently. In my view, it is the hot seller priced between RMB1899 and RMB2299, compromising neither volume or margin, given that vacuums currently sell for RMB1000 to RMB4000 in China with little sales volume or little margin at either of two extremes.
I have listed pros and cons of vacuums runners at length before I deleted them in fear of displeasing my friends who worked there. As such, only the promising premium brands are referred to here.
- ECOVACS/Tineco
ECOVACS founder Mr. Qian grew from a salesperson. I admire his product innovation ability and a strong grasp of chances. At a time around 2008 when ECOVACS robot cleaners were discussed over with some of our foreign clients, Mr. Qian chose to insist on developing ECOVACS brand over OEM, though it was of poor performance at that time and few investors looked to this project. Unexpectedly at last, it survived and made No.1 thanks to the e-commerce wave in home market.
And it seized another chance and launched its Tineco overseas in the wave of cross-border e-commerce, second to none in suiting a trend among vacuum makers.
Vacuums priced over RMB 3000 are marketable to none but Dyson. Even no brands hold firm at RMB 2000 and Tineco seems most likely to be the first. It rolled out a dust induction model, while Dyson brought one with pressure induction, both invariably aiming at intelligence. However, the former sold for RMB 4000 or so, difficult to sell unless it was from Dyson. Imagine a price lowered to RMB 1999-RMB 2299, it may see a tremendous leap in sales volume and brand recognition
- Roborock
Roborock has remained a star business after it joined hands with MI and launched their first hot cake laser robot cleaner at RMB 1599. Despite of low profit in early children it had with MI, it got sunlight to grow and later debut its own brand robots that far outperform counterparts in both profits and sales.
After listed on the Sci-Tech Innovation Board this year, Roborock will spare more funds for market development and R&D. It has built up favorable results in technology and channels.
Once MI staged a cordless handheld vacuum, which did not sell well as insiders rumored. It will be time for Roborock to entrench its place with quick debut of its next star product.
- Dreame
As a rising star of MI eco-chain, Dreame grows almost as fast as Roborock. A hearsay was that it achieved sales of RMB 1 billion in 2019, likely to double in 2020. The next fist product will be the touchstone for Dreame after its first product success.
Its cordless vacuum has firm grasp in the range of RMB 999 to RMB 1299, impossible to catch up for other brands. Will it roll out more premium models priced higher like Roborock?
4.Roidmi
Roidmi does not stress cost performance, though it is a MI eco-chain business. In model design and innovation, it aims at higher end scope RMB 1,699 to RMB 2,299, where some strong players have drawn near. Compared to them, Roidmi lags in capital.
Despite no edge in product quantity, it will see a chance to keep on working out newcomers.
5.Supor
France-based SEB has enjoyed skyrocketing sales in recent two years, especially its arm in China. Its vacuum operation grows swiftly industry wise. This runner has done a good job pitching in clean appliances from a kitchen appliances supplier.
Not to be neglected, it is vying with strong opponents Joyoung, Midea, Haier and other traditional players. As long as it maintains the growth momentum, it may well change from a kitchen brand to a clean appliance one.
