Ecovacs, the #1 robotic vacuum cleaning company in Australia, appears to be under siege from – of all companies – LG Electronics and Samsung Electronics, who are currently rolling out new models that look remarkably similar to Ecovacs designs.
Last night Ecovacs unveiled new models the Deebot X5 PRO OMNI, Deebot T30S Combo and Deebot N20 PRO Plus (you can read about them in greater detail here), however it’s the remarkable similarity between Ecovacs and the latest designs from LG and Samsung that are raising questions.
David Cheng Qian, CEO of Ecovacs, once told me that he welcomes competition as it drives the whole notion of robotic vacuum cleaning over traditional stick vacs and vacuum cleaners, where LG and Samsung have competed in the past. However, I doubt whether he was expecting his form factors to be copied.
The move by Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics to step up their efforts in the robotic vacuum market took a distinct turn when Samsung used CES 2024 to show off its latest offering. It could easily have been mistaken for an Ecovacs design, which the Chinese company had been in market with for several years.
LG Electronics Latest robotic Vacuum cleaner a knock off of Ecovacs design.
Now we can reveal that LG Electronics is set to use IFA in Berlin in September to show off a new Roboking AI All-in-One robotic vacuum cleaner that also looks identical to an Ecovacs design.
ChannelNews can now reveal LG Electronics had to turn to Chinese company Silver Star Group to develop the latest Roboking AI All-in-One robotic vacuum cleaner. Silver Star Group is an arch rival of Ecovacs that specialises in the development of robot vacuum cleaning products for third parties.
LG, which is also using its new device to capture data on consumers home usage, is rolling out its first all-in-one robot vacuum and mop machine in 21 years, after previous models from the South Korean Company failed to deliver sales.
In the robotic vacuum market Ecovacs’ battle in the past has been with Roborock, the global leader in the robotic vacuum market.
Ecovacs robotic vacuum cleaner design has been in market for several years.
For three consecutive years, Roborock has topped the Korean market, securing a 46.5 percent share this year, according to market tracker Euromonitor International. Insiders claim this led to a rethink at LG and Samsung, which appear to now be going after share with products that look remarkably similar to their Chinese rivals.
What was galling for the two South Korean appliance powerhouses was that more than 80 percent of Korea’s domestic robot vacuum market was taken by Chinese suppliers such as Ecovacs.
In briefings to retailers LG is claiming that its new Chinese look alike, the Roboking AI All-in-One, has adopted the “all-free” solution, requiring only minimum intervention from users.
It’s urging retailers to claim that with one press of the “start” button, the machine automatically scrubs away dirt and mops the floor, then also washes, and dries the floor all by itself.
And there you have it – the same marketing message as Ecovacs.
Samsung released the Bespoke AI Steam robot vacuum in several markets in April, with all of the same Ecovacs dust suction, mopping and automatic rag cleaning functions. The steam model has not been launched in Australia yet.
When it was released in South Korean, where LG and Samsung were losing vac cleaning market share, sales surpassed 10,000 units in three weeks, resulting in Samsung increasing robot vacuum sales with similar designs to Ecovacs by 6 percent.
Sales have continued to climb since then, according to several South Korean reports.
Similar to what Ecovacs has been offering for a number of years in Australia, Samsung’s Jet Bot Combo Steam also uses steam and water to remove dirt when cleaning, then steam to sanitise the mop, with steam temperatures of 100 degrees Celsius to remove 99 percent of bacteria.
LG Electronics has developed an Odor management solution that sprays on the wastewater container automatically after the machine self-cleanses the mop.
The machine then dries the container with heat to prevent bacterial multiplication.
According to LG, the special agent reduces the production of sulphur compounds that generate bad smells by 30 percent.
Samsun’s New robotic vacuum cleaner
Apart from a built-in camera LG is also building its LG ThinQ Software into new robotic vacuum cleaning device that runs on Android OS.
This technology is being used by LG to capture and sell consumer data on owners of their products while also using the software to sell subscriptions to additional services.
“Korean companies are introducing new robot vacuums that have overcome the pain points of the existing products and with greater performance,” an industry official said.
Neither LG nor Samsung have explained why their new designs are so remarkably similar to what Ecovacs has been delivering to market for several years.
New independent research conducted for Ecovacs reveals that Australians are placing a higher value on cleanliness than ever before, especially as it relates to its impact on physical and mental well-being and improving the household environment.
The research also revealed that Australians are vacuuming their homes on average 2.5 times a week in 2024, a 20 percent increase from the same time two years ago. This is despite time being a major pressure on Australians, with most Australians going to bed each night not having achieved everything they had hoped to that day.
