Yangcheng Evening News reporter Huang Ting

  Recently, the "sweeping duo" Ecovacs and Stone Technology both disclosed their annual report transcripts.

Ecovacs (603486)’s revenue exceeded 10 billion yuan for the first time last year, and its Tico brand became the company’s second growth curve with its floor scrubber category, but its performance growth slowed down in the first quarter of this year.

Roborock Technology (688169) accelerated its overseas market layout after continuing to "de-milletize". Last year, revenue returned to double-digit growth, but non-net profit deducted declined for the first time in five years.

  Capital has placed high hopes, and the washing machine has become a new engine... 2021 can be called a "highlight" year for the smart cleaning appliance track.

And entering 2022, who is the strongest "sweeping monk" on this track?

Will the price war start under the iterative upgrade of products?

  Double main cause with prosperous cleaning appliances

  Starting from the opening of a new growth channel in 2020, the clean electrical appliance industry continued to maintain a high prosperity last year.

There were more than ten sweeping robot startups that successfully financed that year.

In October last year, ZMI, a smart cleaning appliance company, announced that it had received 3.6 billion yuan in Series C financing, becoming the largest financing ever in the field of sweeping robots.

  Behind the emergence of the clean electrical appliance track, there is the role of technological innovation around improving the user experience, and it is also inseparable from the current consumption upgrade and the drive of the "lazy" economy.

Taking a sweeping robot as an example, many respondents said that the original intention of buying a sweeping robot was to free up their hands and save time, because they did not have time to clean due to their busy work.

  During the "6.18" promotion last year, Ms. Li of the "post-70s" spent more than 2,000 yuan to buy a Roborock sweeping and mopping robot, "I bought this brand after many colleagues recommended it to me. Although it can't replace all the sweeping work at home , but sweeping and mopping the floor is still cleaner than I thought, and you can also build a map on your phone to plan your route.”

  According to the data of GfK (Zhongyikang), an analysis agency of the home appliance industry, the global market size of sweeping robots in 2021 will reach US$5.3 billion, a year-on-year increase of 18%; of which China's sweeping robot market will exceed 10 billion yuan, reaching 10.8 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 22.20% , surpassing the United States to become the world's largest market.

  As for the growth track of cleaning appliances in the same place, the performance of the "sweeping duo" last year was also remarkable.

  "Sweeping the grass" Cobos last year's revenue increased by 80.90% year-on-year to 13.086 billion yuan, and the net profit attributable to the parent increased by 213.51% year-on-year to 2.010 billion yuan; Stone Technology's revenue last year increased by 28.84% year-on-year to 5.837 billion yuan, the net profit attributable to the parent It increased by 2.41% year-on-year to 1.402 billion yuan. Although the growth rate of net profit was not as good as before, revenue returned to double-digit growth after the slowdown in 2020, which also significantly enhanced investor confidence.

  In the second half of last year, the stock prices of the two companies showed a downward trend.

The stock price of Stone Technology, which was once a high-priced stock of over 1,000 yuan, continues to decline. The current share price has dropped by more than 60% from the peak of 1,494.99 yuan, making it start a stock repurchase plan; and Ecovacs’ share price has also fluctuated downward, from 2021. The peak of 250.19 yuan during the year fell to 103.24 yuan at the close on April 27.

  Douyin e-commerce intensifies price decline

  The reporter found that many young consumers are more sensitive to the price of the product when purchasing a sweeper; because they value cost-effectiveness and intelligent functions, most of them choose Xiaomi products, and the price is in the range of 1,000-2,000 yuan.

A consumer said: "I originally chose another brand for my family, and the price was three or four thousand yuan, but my family saw the Xiaomi floor sweeper in use by others and said that buying the same model is enough."

  Under the iterative upgrade of technical thresholds and categories, the current price of cleaning appliances is relatively high.

The industry analysis agency Aowei Cloud believes that the high growth of the industry is mainly due to the increase in average prices, and the overall shipment volume has declined. In the first quarter of 2022, the cumulative online sales of the industry decreased by 37% year-on-year, while the average online price was 2926 yuan, a year-on-year increase of 53%.

  As a leading company in the industry, it is necessary to seek brand power and consolidate pricing power.

In recent years, both Ecovacs and Stone Technology have made innovations and changes from the dimensions of industrial chain and brand.

  For Stone Technology, 2021 is the year when it seeks independent development and improves its own brand performance after "cutting" with Xiaomi.

As the foundry of Xiaomi Mijia sweeping robot, Roborock's revenue once soared from 183 million yuan in 2016 to 1.119 billion yuan in 2017.

Leaving Xiaomi's channels and traffic, Stone Technology constantly seeks to build its own brand and focuses on marketing.

In March last year, Stone Technology signed the top star Xiao Zhan to harvest a wave of traffic. In April and May of that year, Stone Technology’s online sales increased by 74.8% and 108.5% year-on-year respectively.

  In addition to self-cleaning sweepers, scrubbers are another engine for the growth of cleaning appliances.

With the emerging category of scrubbers, Ecovacs' sub-brand Timco has become the company's second growth curve.

In 2021, the Timco brand will achieve sales revenue of 5.137 billion yuan, accounting for 39.25% of Ecovacs' total revenue, an increase of 307.97% over the previous year.

According to Guotai Junan's research report, Timco occupies an absolute leading position in the washing machine market, with a market share of 70% in 2021.

  With the further iteration of the category and the entry of more competitors, price wars may be inevitable.

Ecovacs is focusing on expanding the sinking market and the young generation Z population through the construction of the Uni brand, covering a wider range of consumer groups.

  It is worth noting that new sales platforms and channels are also accelerating the arrival of the era of low prices for clean electrical appliances.

Aowei Cloud predicts that this year will be the first year of the explosion of floor washing machines in Douyin e-commerce, and Douyin e-commerce consumers pay attention to cost performance, and 56.30% of people tend to choose models below 2,000 yuan.