AI Redefines the Upper Limit of Hardware Value: A New Window for Chinese Brands Going Global?

【Ebrun Original】Among all categories for global expansion, smart hardware is perhaps the most fashionable and hottest one.

In the wave of going global over the past decade, Chinese brands relied on supply chain advantages—more complete industrial chains, lower costs, and faster delivery. However, supply chain advantages ultimately have a ceiling, while AI has the potential to redefine the upper limit of hardware value: a floor-cleaning robot that can autonomously plan paths, recognize obstacles, and understand dialect commands; a pair of smart glasses that continuously perceive your schedule and proactively help you make decisions; a water purifier that produces mineral water and knows the water quality condition of your home... What these products present is no longer just a pile-up of functions, but a new imagination of a lifestyle.

"In many cases in the past, Chinese companies were more like highly efficient demand responders; today, with the maturation of the supply chain, the improvement of engineering capabilities, and the popularization of AI tools, Chinese teams are becoming more proactive product definers and innovation initiators. This shift from 'fulfilling demand' to 'defining demand' will become a significant advantage for Chinese brands in global competition," said Zhang Xiangcheng, CEO of Mi Zhen Technology.

Recently, Amazon's 2026 National Smart Device Industry Innovation Summit was held in Shenzhen. Centered on the theme of Chinese smart hardware brands going global, several hardware companies including Roborock, XGIMI, and Mi Zhen Technology delivered speeches and engaged with media at the summit.

01 How Do Hardware Brands Choose Their First Stop for Global Expansion?

For Viomi Technology, a Xiaomi ecosystem chain company, the decision to go global was both inevitable and carefully considered.

Viomi Technology was founded in 2014 with investment from Xiaomi, entering the market with its core product, water purifiers, and successfully listed on NASDAQ four years later. In 2019, the company tested overseas markets with floor-cleaning robots, and by 2024, it began building local teams, deciding to deeply cultivate overseas markets under its own brand.

"From 2014 to 2024, we have been honing our internal capabilities, building the supply chain system, talent team, and technical team, while also making market plans for globalization," said Duan Erqiang, Vice President of Viomi Group.

Looking at the penetration rates of water purifiers in global markets, it's not difficult to understand the strategic considerations behind Viomi's decision to go global. Data shows that in 2022, the penetration rates of water purifiers in developed countries represented by the United States, Europe, Japan, and South Korea all exceeded 80%, with South Korea reaching as high as 95%, while China's penetration rate was only 23%. It is evident that the overseas market capacity for water purifiers is much broader, a rich mine that Chinese enterprises find hard to abandon.

According to reports, the United States and Southeast Asia are the two regional markets Viomi Technology first developed. When entering Southeast Asia, Viomi used Malaysia as a breakthrough point and expanded to surrounding countries like Thailand and Indonesia. Duan Erqiang explained that choosing Malaysia as a bridgehead was based on the path of Coway, the originator of water purifiers in South Korea. "Coway has performed very well in both South Korea and Malaysia. We hoped to see user feedback in a test field like Malaysia," he said.

As early as 1998, Coway launched a water purifier rental model in South Korea, allowing consumers to obtain clean drinking water through regular cleaning services, transforming water purifiers from a luxury item to a household necessity. Relying on the success of this model, Coway has consistently held about half of the South Korean water purifier market. In 2006, Coway entered Malaysia, becoming the first water purifier brand there to obtain Halal certification, and has maintained a leading position for over a decade. The Malaysian market alone contributes about 75% of the company's total overseas revenue.

According to Duan Erqiang, there are clear differences in water quality and corresponding product characteristics between the US and Southeast Asian markets. The US primarily uses groundwater with hard water quality, also facing issues like lead exceedance and PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) pollution. Viomi specifically developed anti-clogging systems and targeted water treatment materials for this, and localized the installation process of water purifier faucets and purifiers to adapt to American consumers' preference for DIY usage habits. Southeast Asia mainly uses surface water with more organic pollutants (such as pesticides, humic acid), but low ion content and low hardness in the water, thus not requiring a reverse osmosis system. It is more suitable to adopt a combination of microfiltration membranes and activated carbon, offering the advantages of high water utilization and zero wastewater discharge.

The first stop for global expansion is highly significant for Chinese companies, affecting confidence in overseas markets and subsequent layout and planning. Viomi Technology chose the US and Southeast Asia based on market characteristics and peer experience, while XGIMI chose the neighboring Japanese market.

Yang Dan, Head of Overseas E-commerce at XGIMI, stated that choosing Japan as the first stop was mainly due to low-cost considerations. The adjacent geographical distance not only brings lower logistics costs but also implies similar consumption habits and minimal product modifications.

Initially, XGIMI only made overseas versions of its main brand. As it gradually deepened its presence in the local market, the company launched the Aladdin X brand specifically for the Japanese market in 2019. Considering Japan's small living spaces and the nationwide standard for lamp installation ports, XGIMI launched a three-in-one product combining a ceiling light, projector, and speaker. Moreover, installing this product requires no drilling or hiring installers; one can install it themselves by stepping on a stool. The feature of projecting downwards from the ceiling perfectly solves the pain point of small apartments lacking suitable projection distances.

The product tailor-made for the Japanese market achieved good sales. Data shows that since its launch in 2018, XGIMI's Aladdin series products have accumulated sales of 270,000 units in Japan.

02 How to Innovate Products Around Industry Pain Points?

When Viomi entered the water purifier track in 2015, the industry had two long-unresolved pain points: water storage tanks were prone to bacterial growth, and filter replacement was costly and difficult.

By removing the built-in water tank and independently developing a 3D integrated waterway module, Viomi integrated the 42 pipe components of traditional water purifiers into a single module, significantly reducing leakage points and revolutionizing the traditional water purifier structure. Regarding filters, Viomi introduced a 1:1 filter replacement technology, eliminating the need for professional installers and allowing users to replace filters at home. It also integrated five independent filters into one five-in-one composite filter, extending the replacement cycle to once every two years, continuously reducing the user's burden.

In terms of water purifier flow rate, Viomi increased it from the industry standard of 50 gallons to 400 gallons, and later pushed it to 2000 gallons, expanding the usage scenarios of water purifiers from simple direct drinking water to full-scenario daily cooking like making soup, washing vegetables, and cooking rice. For example, products with a dual-outlet design have one outlet for pure direct drinking water and another for cleaning water containing bubbles smaller than 5 microns. The bursting of bubbles can penetrate the folds of ingredients like strawberries and cauliflower, helping to remove pesticide residues, bacteria, and grease.

After entering the AI era, Viomi further infused intelligent capabilities into its products. Through the linkage of direct wave sensors and mobile phone apps, users can view household water usage data in real time. The built-in water quality indicator light in the faucet makes the water quality status clear at a glance. There have also been breakthroughs in water conservation; the AI intelligent regulating valve optimized the wastewater ratio from producing 1 cup of clean water while discharging 3 cups of wastewater to producing 4 cups of clean water while discharging only 1 cup of wastewater.

For users of large apartments and villas, Viomi launched a whole-house four-level water purification solution covering pre-filtration, central water purification, water softeners, and end-point direct drinking machines, extending the single-product logic to an entire household water health system.

"After the pandemic, the global focus on drinking water has shifted from safety to the health of drinking water, with increasing demand for mineral water and spring water," Duan Erqiang explained.

While solidifying its core product capabilities, Viomi is also exploring new product boundaries in the direction of "functional water." For example, weak alkaline mineral water is produced by crushing million-level ores and fusing them with mineral rods at high temperatures, resulting in water containing six mineral elements that help regulate acid-base balance. Additionally, there are bamboo charcoal water purification products for mothers and infants, as well as functional water products containing three times the magnesium element to improve sleep.

If Viomi's innovation path involves continuously digging deeper within an existing category, then Roborock is persistently pushing forward technological boundaries until machines can completely replace human hands.

A decade ago, the floor-cleaning robot industry was in a stage of random collisions, with chaotic paths and severe missed cleaning. Roborock scaled the application of LDS laser radar technology in floor-cleaning robots, achieving logical path planning. Since then, it has continued to deepen its efforts, developing Reactive AI obstacle avoidance technology—giving machines human-like spatial perception, enabling them to see and judge optimal routes like humans.

At CES 2025, Roborock launched two iconic products: the G30 Space, equipped with the world's first five-axis folding bionic robotic arm capable of actively identifying and grabbing socks and other debris; and the G Rover, the first bionic intelligent wheel-legged floor-cleaning robot that can not only climb stairs but also perform cleaning tasks on them.

The G30 Pro is a flagship product bringing cutting-edge technology to mainstream users' homes: the chassis can be raised by 4 cm, covering common obstacle heights like kitchen and bathroom thresholds; it can climb onto 3 cm thick carpets, specifically optimized for European and American households with carpeted floors; the body is only 7.95 cm thin, allowing it to pass under low spaces like chair legs and sofa bottoms.

At the AI functionality level, besides Reactive AI, Roborock also has the RRMIND (Robot Mind) system, supporting dialect interaction, intent understanding, hassle-free mode, and a one-click pet-finding function (remotely controlling the robot to find cats or dogs). The product also incorporates the voice of the brand ambassador, playing the role of a "household cleaning butler" to strengthen emotional connections.

Whether it's Viomi's layer-by-layer deep dive into the water purification category or Roborock's continuous breakthrough of the boundaries of cleaning robots, both point to the same innovation logic: starting from users' real-life pain points and using technological accumulation to achieve irreplaceability.

03 How to Decide on Category Expansion and Contraction?

As companies grow older, category expansion becomes a mandatory choice. On this issue, Viomi Technology and XGIMI have given completely different answers, each with its own rationale and logic.

Viomi Technology's product landscape has followed a complete path of first expanding, then contracting, and later extending limitedly around its main business.

Founded in 2014, Viomi was deeply embedded in the Xiaomi ecosystem chain, almost single-category, OEMing water purification products for Xiaomi. In 2016, Viomi began shifting towards the whole-house smart home appliance field and gradually started the "de-Xiaomization" process, rapidly expanding from a water purifier manufacturer to a "full-household" brand. At its peak, the company was involved in over 60 categories, covering almost all home appliance categories including refrigerators, air conditioners, dishwashers, floor-cleaning robots, and smart door locks.

However, entering 2022, Viomi's revenue began to decline from its peak, gradually exposing issues of insufficient brand competitiveness. Consequently, the company began trimming down, gradually divesting peripheral categories, and officially sold most of its IoT home appliance assets in 2024, completing a strategic restructuring and turning a profit the same year.

After restructuring, Viomi returned to the main track of water purifiers, establishing a new mission of "AI for Better Water," and engaged in limited expansion around its core products, such as extending to filters, coffee machines, etc., essentially peripheral applications of filtration technology.

Duan Erqiang explained that Viomi's product path of first expanding and then contracting was complementary to the development cycle of China's real estate. "Within China's major real estate cycle, the wider the channels, the faster the growth. Before 2022, we performed well within this major cycle, both in terms of profit and revenue. But after 2022, with real estate contracting, everyone engaged in deep reflection, realizing the old methods were no longer applicable. How to survive better became the more important thing, so we became more focused."

Unlike Viomi's expansion-then-contraction approach, XGIMI has been actively seeking second and third growth curves.

Founded in 2013, XGIMI spent a decade securing the top position in China's projector market by shipment volume for eight consecutive years. However, starting from 2023, this once rapidly growing category began to cool down. From 2018 to 2022, China's smart projection industry experienced explosive growth, with a compound annual growth rate of 28.7%. Entering 2023, the market saw its first scale decline, and XGIMI's revenue also showed a declining trend for two consecutive years.

Automotive projection is the first increment XGIMI targeted, allowing it to transfer its existing optical technology capabilities to a new scenario. In early 2024, XGIMI began building an automotive team, laying out the R&D and production of automotive projection, smart cockpits, and smart headlights. In 2025, XGIMI's automotive optics business entered the harvest period, becoming a new growth point for the company. Full-year sales revenue from innovative products, including automotive business, reached 250 million yuan, a sharp increase of 107.9% year-on-year. The company's smart cockpit products have been successfully integrated into multiple flagship models such as the AITO M8, AITO M9, Zunjie S800, and Xiangjie S9, becoming an important supplier to leading new energy vehicle manufacturers.

The third curve XGIMI is betting on is AI smart glasses. At CES this January, XGIMI officially launched the new AI hardware brand MemoMind and its first batch of products. The first two products unveiled were the flagship Memo One and the lightweight Memo Air Display. Memo One is equipped with binocular displays and integrated speakers, supporting functions like real-time translation, conversation recording summaries, schedule queries, and teleprompter. Memo Air Display follows a minimalist route, adopting a monocular display solution, weighing only 28.9 grams, and offering up to a week of battery life with the charging case, aiming to allow users to coexist with AI as if wearing ordinary glasses.

According to Yu Junxi, CMO of MemoMind, choosing glasses as the carrier for AI is due to three major advantages:

First, imperceptible wear, requiring no special learning or remembering to carry, eliminating physical, social, and cognitive costs;

Second, low disturbance, as glasses are naturally close to human sensory systems, and when used with earphones, interaction is almost imperceptible;

Third, it's a global category, requiring no additional consumer education. Globally, about 4.5 billion people have vision correction needs, approximately 60% in China and 30%-40% in Europe and America, making the market naturally vast.

"We are targeting not tech users, but people who wear glasses," Yu Junxi stated. The product design also serves this philosophy. For example, MemoMind adopts a camera-free design, actively giving up some functions to gain broader wearing scenarios while eliminating user privacy concerns.

"The best time to enter is not when it's completely mature or not yet proven, but when the window is just opening and the landscape is not yet fully solidified," Yu Junxi remarked.

Ebrun will continue to track and report on this intelligence. To learn more information related to this article, please scan the QR code to follow the author's WeChat.