TMTPOST--"Robotic vacuums have taken over the floor cleaning tasks in my home. Even if they don't clean thoroughly the first time, they just go over it again. Plus, with no one home during the day, it can clean as many times as needed to get the job done," says a software engineer in a cleaning appliance store in Beijing, sharing his thoughts on robotic vacuums.

Since their introduction, robotic vacuums have been considered a key beneficiary of the "lazy economy," especially appealing to those born in the 1980s and 1990s. The fully automated cleaning mode and off-peak working hours of these devices  their popularity.

According to statistics from big data solution provider AVC, from January to May this year, the online retail market for cleaning appliances in China reached 11.4 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 16.4%. Retail volume hit 9.92 million units, up 2.0% year-on-year. Retail sales revenues of robotic vacuums grew by 20.1% year-on-year.

As Chinese brands accelerate their international expansion, eight out of the top ten brands by market share are Chinese, and Chinese brands hold a combined 63% share of the global market.

Despite its overseas origin of robotic vacuums, Chinese brands have achieved remarkable success.

Midway Opportunities and the Rise of New Leaders

If the competition in the robotic vacuum market is compared to a martial arts showdown, Sweden's Electrolux is deemed the first to open a school. In 1996, Electrolux developed the prototype "Trilobite" robotic vacuum. However, it took five years to bring it to market, and its high price of $2,000 deterred many consumers. To put this in perspective, a McDonald's cheeseburger and small fries each cost $0.99 in 2001, meaning the price of one Trilobite vacuum could buy a year's worth of McDonald's meals for one person.

In addition to its prohibitive price, the Trilobite faced intense competition. In the same year it was released, Dyson, now known for its high-speed blowers and vacuum cleaners, designed the DC06 robotic vacuum. The DC06, with 90 sensors, 60 batteries, and three processors, was even more complex than the Trilobite, and its potential market price was astronomical, leading Dyson to halt its development.

Around the same time, LG released the Roboking robotic vacuum, and Electrolux's North American subsidiary Eureka launched a similar product, but these too faded into obscurity. Before 2002, all robotic vacuum brands were still in their infancy, refining their techniques with few delivering tangible market impact.

It wasn't until iRobot introduced the "Roomba" in September 2002 that robotic vacuums became a hit. According to the company's former CEO and co-founder Colin Angle, iRobot conceived the idea of a household robotic vacuum in 2001 and quickly developed the Roomba using existing robotics and vacuum cleaner technologies.