Roborock Surpasses Majority Market Share in Korea... Chinese Rivals Engage in Cutthroat Price War

Roborock extends its lead despite security concerns
Chinese rivals that rushed into the market struggle
Inventory clearance and lower launch prices fuel price war

Chinese robot vacuum specialist Roborock has solidified its dominance in the Korean market by surpassing a 50% annual market share for the first time since entering the country. The industry is paying close attention, as this performance was achieved in the home market of domestic home appliance giants such as Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics.

According to Roborock on the 25th, the company’s market share in the Korean robot vacuum market last year exceeded 50%. It is the first time it has achieved a majority share in roughly six years since it fully entered the Korean market in 2019.

On the 7th of last month (local time), the second day of CES, a robot vacuum cleaner climbs stairs at the Roborock booth at the Venetian Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. Photo by Yonhap News

The company had previously announced that, after holding a new product launch show in Korea in February last year, it captured the No. 1 position in the domestic market with a market share in the mid-40% range. Roborock is expected to highlight this again at its launch show to be held in Korea on the 26th, one year after the previous event.

Roborock appears to have maintained its growth despite concerns over personal data security that emerged in Korea last year. In particular, clauses in its product terms and conditions that raised concerns about possible transfers of personal data became controversial and even led to the company being summoned to a comprehensive audit by the National Assembly’s Political Affairs Committee. However, Roborock has since sought to dispel consumer concerns by opening a “Trust Center” on its official website this year and updating its security policies.

Meanwhile, the sluggish performance of Chinese competitors that rushed into the Korean market, such as Ecovacs and Dreame, also appears to have played a role. In September last year, the Korea Consumer Agency examined six robot vacuum models distributed on the market and confirmed potential risks of privacy invasion and personal data leakage in products from Narwal, Ecovacs, and Dreame. Mobvoi, a Chinese company spun off from Dreame, also entered the Korean market last year but has not significantly increased its market share.

On top of this, domestic companies’ new product launches were delayed compared with initial expectations. Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, which had planned to release new models late last year, pushed their launch schedules back to early this year. Samsung Electronics released its 2026 “Bespoke AI Steam” robot vacuum on the 11th, and LG Electronics also plans to launch a successor model to “Roboking AI All-in-One” within this year.

Ecovacs' Deebot X8 Pro Omni online commerce sale price. Coupang screenshot.

Amid Roborock’s solo run, competitors have been aggressively cutting selling prices to clear inventory. On this day, premium robot vacuum models that were launched last year in the 1.8 million to 1.9 million won range were being sold at up to about 44% off on online commerce platforms such as Coupang and 11st. Mobvoi’s “V50 Ultra,” released in Korea in July last year, has seen its price reduced from 1.79 million won at launch to 1.09 million won currently. Ecovacs’ “Deebot X8 Pro Omni,” which was released in the same month, is also currently being sold at a 44% discount (from 1.79 million won to 990,000 won). Dreame’s “Aqua 10 Ultra,” launched in September, has been marked down from 1.99 million won to 1.29 million won, a reduction of about 35%. Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics are likewise offering discounts of around 28-29% on previous-generation models.

Manufacturers are also uniformly lowering launch prices for new products this year. Roborock has set the launch price of its “Qrevo Curve 2 Flow,” released this year, at 1.49 million won, which is 100,000 won lower than last year’s “Qrevo Curve 1” (1.59 million won). Ecovacs has launched its “X11 Pro Omni” aqua-roller all-in-one robot vacuum this month at 1.69 million won, also 100,000 won lower than its predecessor. The “Deebot T90 Pro Omni” has likewise been given a launch price of 1.19 million won. Mobvoi, which had introduced a premium line in the 1.8 million won range last year, has released its new “S70 Ultra Roller” model at 990,000 won.

The premium-focused robot vacuum market appears to be on a trend of gradually falling price levels under aggressive low-price strategies from Chinese manufacturers. An industry insider said, “Robot vacuum products are no longer selling well at the high prices they used to command, and unsold units that were launched at high prices are piling up as inventory,” adding, “As some brands are competitively lowering prices, overall market prices are trending downward.”