Roborock overtakes iRobot to become the global leader in robot vacuums
Roborock has taken the top spot in the global robot vacuum market, surpassing iRobot in both sales volume and revenue, according to IDC’s Global Smart Home Device Market Quarterly Tracking Report for Q4 2024.
The report highlights that 20.6 million robot vacuum cleaners were shipped in 2024 in total, across all brands; an 11.2% increase from the previous year, with total sales reaching $9.31 billion.
Roborock claimed 16% of global unit sales and an even more impressive 22.3% share in total market revenue, marking a 20.7% year-over-year growth in shipments.
The Chinese company outpaced iRobot for the first time, driven by strong sales in key regions like Germany, France, South Korea, and the Nordic markets. It also claims that it is already leading the way in its homeland and the US.
Roborock has long been a favorite here at The Ambient and its approach – with a multi-tiered product lineup catering to budget buyers with the likes of the Q5 Pro, and premium buyers with industry leading models such as the Qrevo Slim and the new Saros 10R – has clearly paid off.
iRobot, according to the IDC report, was still the market leader in the US, Canada, and Japan, but has seen declining shipments globally, dropping 6.7% in 2024. Its market share also shrank by 2.6% to finish with an overall share of 13.7%.
One of the original robot vacuum cleaner brands, iRobot has had a turbulent couple of years. It saw an acquisition by Amazon fall through last year, and more recent news hasn’t been much better.
Earlier this month it took the covers off of a refreshed Roomba lineup for 2025 but any positivity from that news was soon quashed by reports that the brand may struggle to last the year.
It’s not just Roborock that iRobot is battling with either; there’s a plethora of Chinese brands making big strides in the robo cleaner world.
Ecovacs, according to the report, is still the top-dog in China, despite Roborock’s claims; with options such as the Deebot N30 Omni and the X8 Pro Omni.
But there are also brands like Dreame, Mova, Narwal and Yeedi, all producing numerous models to saturate an ever-growing market.
Dreame is probably the pick of that bunch and, according to the report, is riding a wave of momentum, with a massive 36.6% year-over-year growth in shipments.
Over in Las Vegas at CES 2025, the brand took the covers off of the awesome X50 Ultra Complete, complete with its ProLeap system, that lets the vacuum climb over thresholds of up to 6cm.
Another interesting snippet from IDC’s findings is that the average selling price jumped 7.6% to $452, which suggests a shift toward higher-end models.
