
China's top drone maker DJI comes down to earth with launch of robotic cleaner
Chinese drone giant DJI is expected to launch a vacuum cleaning robot in a move set to intensify competition in the country's crowded robotic cleaner market, according to a report by the state-backed financial newspaper China Securities Journal, citing internal sources.
Shenzhen-based DJI will introduce a combination vacuum cleaner and mopping robot this month, a project that has been under development over the past four years, according to the report. The product is called DJI ROMO, according to leaked images of the packaging.
DJI did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.
The move by the world's largest drone maker will see it come up against domestic rivals that have already carved up the local and global market for robotic cleaners. Worldwide shipments in the segment reached 20.6 million units last year, an 11.2 per cent year-on-year increase, according to a report released in March by market consultancy IDC.
Chinese firm Roborock ranked as the No 1 supplier with a 16 per cent global share, followed by US-based iRobot with 13.7 per cent, according to IDC. The other names in the top five were Ecovacs Robotics, Xiaomi and Dreame – all from China.
Employees work on the production line of a robot vacuum cleaner factory in Shenzhen, August 9, 2019. Photo: Reuters
Ecovacs, Roborock and Narwal are the top three suppliers in the mainland China market, which grew 6.7 per cent last year.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


South China Morning Post
an hour ago
- South China Morning Post
Nvidia to stop including China in profit, revenue forecasts amid US chip export controls
Nvidia will exclude the Chinese market from its revenue and profit forecasts following the imposition of tough US restrictions on chip sales to China, CEO Jensen Huang told CNN on Thursday. Advertisement When asked whether the US will lift export controls after trade talks with China in London this week, Huang said that he was not counting on it. 'But, if it happens, then it will be a great bonus. I've told all of our investors and shareholders that, going forward, our forecasts will not include the China market,' Huang said. Nvidia did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he was very happy with a trade deal that restored a fragile truce in the US-China trade war , a day after negotiators from Washington and Beijing agreed on a framework covering tariff rates. Advertisement

The Standard
4 hours ago
- The Standard
Beijing to speed up standardization for platform economy
The new committee targets involutional competition and the chaotic phenomenon of live-streaming and e-commerce. XINHUA


South China Morning Post
7 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
ByteDance, SenseTime unveil model updates as China's AI race heats up
China's artificial intelligence (AI) market sees heightened competition, as various model providers – from SenseTime to ByteDance – step up efforts to enhance their services. Hong Kong-listed SenseTime has upgraded its Cantonese-speaking chatbot, Sensechat, with a comprehensive set of new features that include real-time audio and video-interaction capabilities, according to the company's announcement on Thursday. Other enhancements include visual reasoning capabilities, which allow Sensechat to 'see' and 'think' while engaging with users. The feature was made possible by the multimodal reasoning capabilities of SenseTime's SenseNova V6 AI model , the company said. Multimodal models are designed to understand multiple types of input data such as text, video and audio, unlike traditional models that only handle one type. SenseTime is one of China's pioneering AI companies. Photo: Reuters That upgrade comes a day after TikTok parent ByteDance launched a suite of new AI models and tools at reduced prices, underscoring the intensifying competition in the domestic market after Chinese start-up DeepSeek's cost-effective products garnered global attention.