Roborock: Stand on the shoulders of giants and “fight” with giants

With the development of the Internet of Things、5G and AI artificial intelligence, the popularity of smart homes in life, people’s demand for them is increasing day by day. Xiaomi, which has always focused on cost performance, will not miss such a good opportunity. Therefore, through the unique “ecological chain model“, Xiaomi’s investment has driven more entrepreneurs with the same ideas. Among them, Roborock got the admission ticket to the Xiaomi ecological chain, and since then it has become a member of the Xiaomi ecological chain.

Mijia Intelligent Sweeping Robot

In 2014, Changjing and his partners founded Roborock. Shortly after its creation, he got Xiaomi ‘s investment. It not only solves the current funding problem of Roborock, but also enters the Xiaomi ecological chain system. For a fledgeling smart home brand, This move undoubtedly stood on the shoulders of the giant. The company only needs to focus on product development, Xiaomi is responsible for sales and supply chain. In September 2016, the first Mijia Intelligent Sweeping Robot was launched at the autumn press conference of Xiaomi Ecological Chain. The brand-new product experience, Mijia’s iconic white and simple round design, and good and cheap price made this sweeping robot famous overnight. Mijia’s Sweeping Robots contributed 98% of Roborock’s revenue last year, but they are not satisfied with being the company behind Xiaomi.

Roborock Intelligent Sweeping Robot

In 2017, Roborock launched its own brand ” Roborock Intelligent Sweeping Robot”. Excellent technology helped Roborock move from behind the scenes to the front of the stage. When the Roborock Intelligent Sweeping Robot was launched in the market, it focused on ” the second generation of Mijia Intelligent Sweeping Robot“. Because Xiaomi’s previous large amount of traffic and exposure paved the way for the improvement of its brand strength. Therefore, the market share of Roborock Intelligent Sweeping Robot has risen rapidly.

On February 21, 2020, Roborock was listed on the Science and Technology Innovation Board. This is the first listed company in the science and technology innovation board of Xiaomi ecological chain, and also the third listed company of Xiaomi after Huami and Yunmi. As the third listed Xiaomi ecological chain company, Roborock is the most long-faced for Xiaomi. It not only has the shortest establishment time, but also has the highest market value.

Xiaomi ecological chain, Mijia products… Roborock has more Xiaomi labels, and the word “Xiaomi” has appeared 807 times in its prospectus. However, with the growth of Roborock, Roborock which stands on the shoulders of giants, does not want to form the image of “Xiaomi Ecological Chain Company” in the eyes of the public, which also makes the relationship between Xiaomi and Roborock more and more unusual.

The relationship between Roborock and Xiaomi

Xiaomi is the main customer, sales channel and shareholder of Roborock, and its main business partner. The development of Roborock is inseparable from Xiaomi. At first, it came to the public as a Xiaomi ecological chain company, and the name “Xiaomi” has also become the focus of attention. Xiaomi and Roborock are mutually beneficial in a sense. Xiaomi used its own financial strength to help Roborock tide over the early stage of Predicament. Roborock relies on Xiaomi’s support in brand, channel, supply chain and other aspects. The listing of Mijia Intelligent Sweeping Robot is a great success of Roborock in the industry and the company’s main source of revenue in 2016. However, Roborock began not to be satisfied with its processing business. In 2017, it launched its own brand, launched the Roborock brand in the middle and high-end market, and launched the small tile brand in the low-end market.

Although the Mijia focuses on cost performance. It seems that the positioning of the two is different, in essence, the two are no longer cooperative. Roborock has begun to gradually seek “de- milletization“. Roborock has been developing its own brand. It seems that everything is going well, but in fact, Roborock ‘s marketing expenditure has doubled. After the lifting of the ban, Xiaomi’s Shunwei Capital and Tianjin Jinmi continued to reduce their shares in Roborock. Roborock has shifted its focus to its own brands, and competition with Xiaomi has become inevitable.