Today's Roborock Technology is no longer what it was in the past.

On August 29th, Roborock Technology (688169.SH) released its 2024 semi-annual report as scheduled, delivering a performance that exceeded market expectations.

In the first half of 2024, Roborock continued its high growth trajectory, with the company achieving revenue of 4.416 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 30.9%, and net profit of 1.121 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 51.57%.

Specifically, the company's active exploration of overseas markets and diversification strategies have been key to the strong and sustained growth in corporate revenue.

In the first half of 2024, Roborock's overseas revenue reached 2.294 billion yuan, accounting for 51.95% of the company's total revenue for the period.

Since the launch of its first washing and drying machine in March 2023, after a long-term layout, during this year's 618 shopping festival, several washing products sold by Roborock became the top 1 on Tmall's new washing machine list.

Excellent layout is inseparable from solid internal strength.

In the first half of 2024, Roborock's R&D investment reached 410 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 42.92%.

Advertisement

During this period, the company applied for 1,290 new patents, and 363 patent applications were recognized by the National Intellectual Property Administration.

Focusing on R&D and breaking the internal competition, what has Roborock specifically done to maintain high growth?

Since its listing in 2020, after years of development, Roborock is no longer the company it once was.

On one hand, the company has gradually reduced its dependence on Xiaomi, which contributed only 1.42 million yuan in revenue to the company in 2023; on the other hand, after years of layout, as of now, the company's products include smart sweeping robots, floor washing machines, washing and drying machines, and other intelligent appliances, making it a diversified company.

In fact, early on, the outside world was not optimistic about Roborock entering the washing machine market.

The washing machine category has been developed in China for many years, with giants such as Haier, Little Swan, and Midea occupying the vast majority of the market share.

Faced with a tough market, Roborock chose to compete differently, entering the washing and drying machine category where there was still market space, lowering the price of washing and drying machines through exclusive technology, and increasing the popularity of these products.

At the same time, Roborock's underwear washing machine has well met the health needs of urban women, uncovering the brand's appeal among urban youth.

Currently, Roborock has five washing machine products on sale, and will release two new washing and drying machines in September this year.

Relying on the company's layout in the e-commerce field, Roborock has established a dedicated sales team, and sales are continuously improving, emerging as a strong contender in the domestic washing and drying machine market.

During this year's 618 period, Roborock's washing machine sales increased by 434.88% year-on-year, and sales revenue increased by 168.38% year-on-year, with the underwear washing machine m1 pure ranking first on Tmall's new washing machine list and Tmall's new washing and drying machine list; on e-commerce platforms such as Douyin, Roborock's washing products have also gained widespread market recognition.

Roborock founder Chang Jing stated that Roborock's (Technology) strategy in the washing machine market is to open up the market in 2024, improve the category in 2025, and as Roborock (Technology)'s user base for "washing and drying in one" and "mini washing and drying machines" gradually matures, the company will expand horizontally into the markets of washing and drying sets, washing machines, and mini washing machines, and vertically extend to various price segments, making Roborock a professional washing machine brand.

Excellent product power is the key for Roborock's washing products to gain widespread market recognition.

In order to provide users with a better drying experience and the best drying solutions, the company has adopted a molecular sieve low-temperature drying module; to solve the problem of lint, Roborock has installed a self-cleaning module for lint on its products; in addition, Roborock has also optimized algorithms to improve user experience and reduce energy consumption.

In addition to optimizing washing products, Roborock continues to increase R&D investment to ensure the competitive advantage of its sweeping robots.

In the first half of 2024, Roborock's R&D investment reached 410 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 42.92%.

During this period, the company applied for 1,290 new patents, and 363 patent applications were recognized by the National Intellectual Property Administration.

With the optimization of algorithms and the application of AI technology, the user experience of the company's sweeping robots has been significantly improved.

With the vast sky and the blue ocean, "internal competition" has been mentioned in many fields this year.

Currently, the competition in the domestic sweeping robot industry is also very fierce.

According to monitoring data from AVC, in the first half of 2024, the concentration of domestic intelligent sweeping robot brands is high, with the top 5 brands accounting for more than 90% of the market share.

In a market with high industry concentration, Roborock has not chosen the low-quality competition method of lowering prices to seize the market.

The company has maintained the stability of the enterprise's gross profit margin by continuously improving R&D, optimizing user experience, and enhancing product competitiveness, ultimately allowing customers to recognize the value of the company's products.

Compared with the end of 2023, in the first half of 2024, the gross profit margin of Roborock's domestic market only decreased by 0.45 percentage points.

Faced with the gradual saturation of the domestic market, Roborock has accelerated the pace of overseas market development.

To date, Roborock products have covered more than 170 countries and regions worldwide, serving more than 15 million families.

In the North American market, Roborock has expanded to more than 1,400 Target stores and more than 1,000 Best Buy stores in the United States, covering more than 700 cities across the country.

In the European market, Roborock is in a leading position in the main European markets such as Northern Europe and Germany.

In the first quarter of 2024, Roborock ranked first in both sales volume and sales revenue in the sweeping machine markets of Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden.

In addition, Roborock is also building a localized team to further cultivate the Korean, Turkish, and other Asia-Pacific markets.

According to Euromonitor International data, Roborock ranked first in global sales of sweeping robots in 2023, highlighting its leading position in the industry.

During the 2024 Prime Day promotion, Roborock products achieved good sales results in both the North American and European markets, with several series of products ranking at the top of sales.

Relying on the company's layout in both domestic and international markets, since its listing, Roborock's revenue has grown at a high rate.

In the first half of 2024, Roborock's revenue has reached 4.416 billion yuan, higher than the 4.205 billion yuan revenue for the whole year of 2019.

After a long period of growth, in the first half of 2024, the company's net profit has also reached 1.121 billion yuan, higher than the 783 million yuan net profit for the whole year of 2019.

While delivering excellent results, Roborock has not forgotten to give back to investors.

According to statistics, since its listing, Roborock has distributed a total of 1.265 billion yuan in cash dividends.

Among them, in 2024, Roborock has distributed a total dividend (including tax) of 642 million yuan, accounting for 31.30% of the net profit attributed to the listed company in 2023.

According to the forecast by Open Source Securities, the net profit attributed to the mother company of Roborock in 2024-2026 is 2.58 billion yuan, 3 billion yuan, and 3.61 billion yuan, respectively, and relying on high growth and high shareholder returns, Open Source Securities has given Roborock a "buy" rating.