November 9 2026 – China’s online robot vacuum market grew in unit shipments during the third quarter of 2026 but continued to lose revenue momentum, pointing to a recovery that is still fragile and heavily price-driven.
Online retail volume reached 918,000 units in the quarter, up 2.4 percent year on year, while retail value fell 8.7 percent to 2.72 billion yuan. The average selling price dropped 10.9 percent to 2,965.3 yuan, slipping back below the 3,000-yuan threshold. The data suggest that demand was partly revived through discounts and product reshuffling rather than a broad-based upgrade cycle.
Ecovacs remained the market leader, holding a 31.1 percent share of online unit sales and a 34.2 percent share of online revenue. Roborock closed the gap, with both unit and revenue sales rising about 20 percent year on year. Its unit share reached 24.7 percent, up 3.6 percentage points, while its revenue share climbed 7.8 percentage points to 31.7 percent.
Xiaomi’s Mijia brand ranked third in unit share at 13.1 percent, with an 8.1 percent revenue share. Dreame continued to gain ground in the middle tier, lifting its unit share to 6.9 percent and its revenue share to 8.7 percent, enough to move it into third place by revenue. Narwal slipped the most, with both its unit and revenue shares falling 8.2 percentage points to 5.5 percent and 6.7 percent respectively, dropping it from third to fifth.
The competitive landscape is tightening. Ecovacs still leads, but Roborock’s stronger revenue growth shows it is winning more higher-value sales. At the same time, Dreame’s advance and Narwal’s retreat indicate that the mid-tier is becoming more volatile.
Industry watchers see the quarter as a sign that China’s robot vacuum market has entered a replacement-driven phase. Volume growth alone is no longer enough; brands will need to compete more on product mix, navigation and cleaning innovation, and brand premium rather than relying on broad price cuts.
