In the early spring of Boston, there were some residual snow on the roadside. Under the blue sky and white clouds, the pine forest had stretched green branches in the cold wind.
Colin Inger was at the window and picked up a new sweeping robot. He smiled a bit. 28 years ago, his iRobot company was now the global leader in sweeping robotics. However, he expressed to First Finance. The company is still in the entrepreneurial stage.
In the future, sweeping robots will play an important role in smart homes, which has also attracted many competitors. As the world's largest sweeping robot market, China added dozens of brands last year. Inger believes that China is iRobot currently. In the only market in the world that has not achieved a leading position, 'we will increase our input'.
Challenges in the Chinese market
According to data provided by GFK to CBN, the average compounding growth rate of China's sweeping robots has reached 51% over the past five years. By 2017, the share of sweeping robots in the overall vacuum cleaner market in China has reached 37.3%. Online channels The proportion is as high as 44.7%, while global sweeping robots account for only 11.3% of the total vacuum cleaner market.
However, last year the Chinese market was mainly driven by low-end and mid-range products. According to GFK, in the Chinese market in 2017, sweeping robots under 2,000 yuan accounted for 82% of new product retail sales in this category, and retail sales accounted for a higher ratio. 95%. Millet will lower the price of sweeping robots to below 1600 yuan.
In this regard, as the iRobot chairman and CEO of Ingel said iRobot lock the high-end market, the pursuit of value rather than low-cost competition. It is reported that iRobot sweeping robot pricing in the Chinese market is mainly in the 2500 yuan.
At present, iRobot's share of China's sweeping robot market ranks second behind China's domestic company Coworth. China is the only market in the world that has not achieved a leading position.
However, in the high hopes of the Chinese market, growth is slowing. iRobot's chief operating officer, Christian Cerda, told CBN that in 2017, the growth rate of the US sweeping robot market is twice that of the Chinese market, and the growth rate of the US market is as high as 56%, and buyers are mainly new users, while the Chinese market's growth rate is only about 23%.
From the market penetration rate, ChristianCerda said that the penetration rate of the US sweeping robot market has reached 10% to 11%, while the penetration rate of the Chinese sweeping robot market is below 5%.
ChristianCerda believes that sweeping robots are emerging categories, and the Chinese market is currently driven by low-end and middle-end products. Low-priced products do not bring good experiences to users, affect consumer reputation, and lead to slower growth. From this point of view, 'We Is a rope on the grasshopper'.
Strengthen localization research and development
How to deal with the challenges of the Chinese market? iRobot will strengthen the localization of R&D and operations.
The first is to expand the product line. At present, iRobot has two main types of products in the Chinese market, sweeping robots and wiper robots. Its products for the roof sink cleaning robots in the North American market are not suitable for the Chinese market. Coworth has launched the rub Window robot 'window treasure'. Angel stated that 'wipe glass is a good application scenario, other inconvenience.'
Second, iRobot will strengthen its localization research and development in order to introduce products that are more suitable for the needs of the Chinese market. As the products are oriented to the global market, iRobot's sweeping robots emphasize the applicability of various markets, including large American houses, Japanese tatami mats, etc. Competitors, including many Chinese companies, have no function for carpet cleaning, and we want our products to meet high standards across the world, 'says ChristianCerda.
However, ChristianCerda revealed that iRobot is developing consumer robot products for the Chinese market.
In fact, China is not only the world's largest market for sweeping robots, but also the world's largest production base for sweeping robots. iRobot's sweeping robots are manufactured in China, so we must further leverage China's supply chain resources.
Currently, iRobot's R&D center is located in Boston, USA. At the same time, it has a software R&D organization in Silicon Valley, USA, and R&D in engineering manufacturing in Guangzhou. ChristianCerda said: 'Many of our R&D projects are located in China, and we have established an innovation center in Guangzhou. . '
In terms of marketing, unlike iRobot's direct sales model in the United States, Europe, and Japan, it will continue to adopt a dealer model in China. ChristianCerda said that this depends on brand maturity. Currently iRobot's business in the Chinese market is not yet mature enough. Do brand direct sales. 'The Chinese market is unique, the online e-commerce platform system is complex, China's geographic area is large, direct sales are difficult to cover in full, so in the next few years, we will still rely on distributors.'
At the same time, iRobot will continue to focus on high-end market segments. Production is all in China, and the sensor manufacturers of the core components of sweeping robots are also open to the public. Why should they support brand premiums?
Chris Jones, vice president of iRobot technology, told CBN that the key technologies for sweeping robots are sensors, software, and algorithms. Their sensors include a variety of methods. The above camera senses the rich details of the home environment, tire odometer perception Distance, and gyroscopes. The software must be read efficiently and integrate all the data sent by the sensors. Through the algorithm, the sweeping robots automatically formulate the best routes and solutions for cleaning.
'We have unique technologies in the fields of dirt detection, athletic capabilities, and use of sensor feedback information.' ChrisJones said iRobot has more than 1,000 patents in the world, and R&D investment of 100 million U.S. dollars in 2017, which accounts for the proportion of operating revenue. 12%. 'We will not grant patents, we must maintain the technological leadership in the industry.'
ChristianCerda told CBN that the company will customize some sensors to suppliers, even if the hardware is imitated, software and algorithms are not easily imitated.
Technology patents have become a 'weapon' of the company. In 2017, iRobot initiated a patent investigation of sweeping robots in the United States targeting several Chinese companies and has settled with half of the accused persons out of court. The remaining lawsuits have not yet been closed. .
Grab smart home entrance
Anger believes that sweeping robots are the entrance of smart homes in the future, because it is a mobile device, so it can provide space information for other smart home appliances. He disclosed that following the cooperation with Google and Amazon, Roomba sweeping robots and Tmall The Elves cooperate, and intelligent voice control can also be implemented in China. In the future, hundreds of smart devices can be connected.
Compared with the first generation of smart homes connected by smartphones and interconnected by second-generation devices but still controlled by people, Angal is most interested in third-generation smart homes, that is, smart devices can self-program and automatically The best service plan. In the next 10 to 20 years, the arrival of aging society, the application of artificial intelligence technology, home service robots can have a greater role to help people live independently, such as to the kitchen refrigerator to get a glass of ice water.
In order to realize this exciting prospect, iRobot has successively peeled off military robots, commercial robots, security and other services in recent years. Angell said frankly that business focus can accelerate the company's R&D in the field of home service robots.
In 2017, iRobot's revenue reached 884 million U.S. dollars, a year-on-year increase of 34%. According to Angel, the global robot industry is relatively small. 'We are the world’s largest consumer robot company and we expect revenue to exceed 2018. Billion US dollars, but compared with Google, Abson, Millet, etc., we are still a very small company. ' However, with the growth of the consumer robot market, he expects iRobot's annual revenue will increase by more than 20 in the next three years. %.
In the future, smart homes are not just about hardware, but also software and ecology. According to Angel, iRobot is constantly strengthening its software capabilities. In the past, there was one software engineer for every eight engineers, and now there is one software engineer for every three engineers. About 80% of Roomba's users are interested in seeing the home map sent by sweeping robots on the phone.
The ecology of the robotics industry in the United States is ripe. Due to successful companies, venture capital focuses on robotics, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things and other companies. The same thing happened in China. Dajiang’s drones were successful and many venture capitalists invested in Chinese consumption. Robot companies, so the United States, China is a good country for two consumer robotics industries. 'Angel said.
There have been hundreds of brands in the sweeping robot market in China, including Cobos, Xiaomi, etc., as well as comprehensive white power giants such as Haier and Midea, as well as many small and medium-sized enterprises. ChristianCerda said: 'So many Chinese brands have driven the Chinese market. The evolution of fiery and consumer robots, because our production and some of our R&D are completed in China, which allows us to have more sensors to choose from, more engineers can recruit, so the growth of the Chinese market is beneficial to us. 'He predicted that China would The outbreak of the robot market may take two to three years.