Awesome! Well-known bestseller ranked first in the world

In recent years, the demand for smart cleaning appliances has soared. Many companies have seized the business opportunities, gone overseas and quickly occupied overseas markets. Among them, Stone Technology's achievements are particularly remarkable.

Recently, IDC, a top global consulting firm, released the "Global Smart Home Device Market Quarterly Tracking Report, Q2 2024". According to the data published in the report, Stone Technology ranked first in the world in terms of shipments and sales this quarter.

It is worth mentioning that this is the first time that a Chinese manufacturer has topped the smart sweeping robot market.

Stone Technology's performance is soaring! Accelerating its growth overseas

Speaking of Stone Technology, I believe everyone is familiar with it.

The company was founded in 2014. Its main products include smart sweeping robots, floor scrubbers, washer-dryers and other smart appliances. The company began to expand overseas in 2017, focusing on developing the US, European and Southeast Asian markets. It has opened online brand stores on online platforms such as Amazon, Walmart, Home Depot, Target, BestBuy, etc., and has settled in the large US supermarket Target. It has also established overseas companies in the United States, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Germany, South Korea and other places.

Currently, Stone Technology's products have been distributed in more than 170 countries and regions around the world, and more than 15 million households are using its sweeping robots. It has become a leading company in the smart sweeping robot market.

In 2023, Stone Technology's overseas omni-channel strategy continued to advance, and the company's overseas business continued to improve. Stone Technology's overseas revenue for the whole year of 2023 reached 4.229 billion yuan, an increase of 21.42% over the same period last year.

On March 29, 2024, Roborock Technology held its 2024 global launch conference, at which it cited Euromonitor International research data and pointed out that Roborock Technology's sweeping robots achieved the highest sales in the world.

It is worth mentioning that Stone Technology is a Xiaomi ecological chain enterprise. It has gone through five rounds of financing before its listing. In addition to Xiaomi Technology and Shunwei Capital, investors also include well-known VC institutions such as Gaorong Capital, Qiming Venture Partners, and GIC.

On February 21, 2020, Stone Technology was officially listed on the Science and Technology Innovation Board, with an initial offering of 16.667 million new shares and a fundraising of RMB 4.519 billion.

In recent years, Stone Technology's revenue has maintained a rapid growth trend.

From 2021 to 2023, Stone Technology's revenue was 5.837 billion yuan, 6.629 billion yuan, and 8.654 billion yuan, respectively, with revenue growth rates of 28.84%, 13.56% and 30.55% in these three years.

During this period, Stone Technology's overseas market revenue was RMB 3.364 billion, RMB 3.483 billion and RMB 4.229 billion, respectively, maintaining a steady growth rate.

In the first half of 2024, Stone Technology's global operating income was 4.416 billion yuan, an increase of 30.90% compared with the same period last year; the net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company was 1.121 billion yuan, an increase of 51.57% year-on-year.

Among them, Stone Technology's overseas market performance remains outstanding. During this period, overseas revenue reached 2.294 billion yuan, accounting for 51.95% of total revenue.

As for the reason for the substantial increase in performance, Stone Technology said that the company has been expanding its domestic and overseas markets in the process of development, and its sales scale has also been expanding. During this period, it has launched a number of new products, which have been recognized by consumers, and its market competitiveness has also been enhanced, and its profitability has been continuously improved. Stone Technology emphasized that the important reason for the company's rapid growth in performance is the emphasis on R&D and the dual drive of domestic and overseas markets.

Stone Technology still faces multiple concerns

Although Stone Technology has been making great strides in the global market, it still faces multiple hidden worries.

Since its establishment, Roborock has been highly dependent on sweeping robot products, so it faces the risk of a single product structure. If industry demand changes, it will have a direct impact on the company's performance.

On the other hand, Roborock's products have been repeatedly complained by consumers. The reasons for the complaints include: "poor product quality", "multiple failures during product use", "refusal of after-sales service", etc., involving sweeping robots, floor scrubbers, washing machines and many other products.

In addition to consumer complaints, Stone Technology is also involved in an "infringement dispute."

Not long ago, a ruling by the Düsseldorf Regional Court in Germany in mid-August showed that Dreame and Stone Technology had conducted a patent infringement lawsuit overseas, and Stone Technology had lost the case.

Judging from the specific case information, two sweeping robots under Stone Technology infringed on the patent of Dreame products in the field of "cleaning devices and cleaning equipment". The effective date of the patent in question may be April 18, 2024.

Ultimately, the court ruled that Stone Technology must cease the sale, use and import of the relevant patented products involved in the case in Germany, and that it must provide information on the suppliers and customers of the relevant products, hand over the inventory of the products involved to the bailiffs for destruction, recall the products that have been sold, compensate Zhuimi for all losses it has suffered and will suffer since April 18, and bear the relevant expenses of this lawsuit.

It is worth noting that on the eve of the domestic "618" promotion this year, Dreami applied to the Quanzhou Intermediate People's Court for an order that Stone Technology immediately stop selling infringing products on the grounds of patent infringement. In early June, the court ruled that Stone Technology should stop manufacturing and selling related products.

Although Stone Technology later appealed to the Supreme People's Court and the ruling was revoked, it is understood that because the ban came into effect on the eve of the "618 Promotion", Stone Technology estimated that its sales volume lost more than 20,000 units.

In general, the product strength and technological investment in the smart cleaning track that Stone Technology is in are very important.

Summarizing the successful overseas experience of Chinese brands of sweeping robots, we can find that the technical requirements of sweeping robots are very high, mainly involving autonomous navigation design positioning, path planning algorithms and sensor technology, etc. This requires companies to continuously conduct product research and development and launch innovative products.

If Roborock wants to get rid of the negative impact of technology plagiarism, it must strengthen its own R&D and innovation capabilities and protect intellectual property rights. Because consumers in different countries and regions have different preferences for the functions and characteristics of sweeping robots, companies need to constantly understand the needs of overseas consumers and make technological differences for overseas consumers.

However, the competition in the smart cleaning appliance market is extremely fierce, and the industry is beginning to face multiple pressures such as reduced innovation, fading dividends, and slowing growth. Under fierce market competition, price wars are also intensifying. How to maintain a leading edge in the current market is an important issue that many companies need to face.

In addition to enhancing R&D and innovation capabilities and understanding consumer needs as mentioned above, companies also need to attract consumers through multi-channel, multi-touchpoint marketing content, and after-sales service must also be improved to maintain product reputation and customer loyalty.

Stone Technology