China’s robotics manufacturers are targeting Australia and the European Union to replace growth lost to a new US import ban, using IFA Berlin this week as the launch pad for a wave of robot lawn mowers, vacuums and outdoor cleaning devices.

Segway owner Ninebot, robot vacuum makers Ecovacs, Mova and Roborock, and a cluster of Chinese startups are all showing new product at Europe’s biggest consumer electronics trade show, with several confirming Australian distribution and service plans.

Lidar Supplier Turns Rival

Among the exhibitors is Shenzhen based LDRobot, which sells robot mowers under the Anthbot brand which is due to launch in Australia.

The company built its business supplying light detection and ranging (lidar) sensors to robot vacuum makers, then identified robot lawn mowers as a category it could enter without competing directly against its own customers, co founder and chief executive Gavin Guo told Nikkei Asia.

“We aim to rank among the top three in the industry within three years,” Guo said, adding that the company will expand after sales service operations, including into the Australian market.

The push is being made without a home market to fall back on. China has almost no domestic demand for robot mowers or pool robots because most housing lacks the lawns and backyard pools common in Australia, leaving exports as the only route to scale.

Chinese Brands Now Own The Category

Global shipments of robotic lawn mowers rose 63.8% year on year in 2025 to 1.992 million units, with the top six vendors all Chinese manufacturers, according to IDC.

The trajectory mirrors robot vacuums, where US pioneer iRobot was acquired by a Chinese supplier in January.

Roborock, which launched its first robot mower range this year, told investors in results published this week that it had achieved a strategic extension from indoor to outdoor cleaning.

Australian distributor iXL Home, which retained iRobot distribution rights through the takeover, has yet to run any public relations or marketing activity around the new range since the acquisition.

FCC Ban Reshapes The Map

The pivot to Europe and Australia follows a decision last month by the US Federal Communications Commission to prohibit imports of new advanced robotic devices deemed to pose unacceptable risks to national security.

Mower makers regard the ruling as a blanket ban because the definition is broad, capturing any device capable of movement on the ground that has network connectivity and weighs more than 2 kilograms.

The regulation is “a very big risk for all the companies in this area,” Zhang said. “It is a very fundamental limitation for robotic products.”

With the US closed to new models, Australia is set to receive product volumes and brand entrants that would otherwise have gone to North America.

Europe Is Not A Free Run

Regulatory risk is also building in the EU.

The European Commission opened anti dumping investigations into Chinese robot lawn mowers last year following a complaint from Swedish manufacturer Husqvarna.

The complaint alleges Chinese producers with links to state authorities are dumping product and crippling local manufacturing. A decision is due in January 2027.