Dreame is a Chinese manufacturer that has crept into the European conversation based on muscle. Muscle for the home, specifically. Founded in 2015, it soon emerged as a serious rival of Dyson thanks to its numerous vacuum cleaners of all kinds and beauty devices. Now it has been filtered the Dreame E1, the company’s first mobile with which they seek to replicate the strategy of the “Apple from China”.
They no longer want to be Dyson, they want to be Xiaomi.
The Dreame E1. In September, Dreame dropped the bomb: robot vacuum cleaners They were going to move into the smartphone segment and electric cars. Since then, Dreame’s phone had kept a low profile, but it recently appeared in the European database EPREL with the name ‘W5110’.
We have to wait for the official announcement, but it seems that it will have a AMOLED screen 6.67 inches, a 108 megapixel main camera, a 4,850 mAh battery and only 33 W charging, as well as seven years of system updates. This would aim to satisfy European regulators.
Divide the world. Its features are not revolutionary and the sketches look like those of a Samsung Galaxy S25but it is a first step. No price or key details such as the processor or something so on everyone’s lips like the RAM memorybut in an internal communication, the CEO of Dreame pointed out high: they want to be one of the three tigers of consumer technology.
The other two would be Huawei and Xiaomi, companies that have been shaping an ecosystem in which a multitude of home devices are controlled by a single brain: the mobile phone. In a scenario in which we can have our house full of Dreameit is a vision with all the sense in the world.
1+8+N from Huawei. Many devices, a single brain
Xiaomi, the birthplace of Dreame. To understand this strategy, it is essential to understand the model that Xiaomi has been developing for more than a decade. The company began by selling its own products, but also making investment strategies in promising startups, like Dreame. These companies developed a product and gained access to Xiaomi’s distribution network, but also to its name. A rice cooker from an unknown company does not attract attention. One from that same company, but under the name Xiaomicalls much more.
This way, the risks are also lower. And, precisely, Dreame manufactured vacuum cleaners that they formed part of the Xiaomi ecosystem while simultaneously operating its own catalog. It is something that explains the rapid growth of many Chinese brands, something impossible, or very difficult, if they had operated independently from the beginning. Roborock too was in that Xiaomi ecosystem.
Meteoric. The rise they have achieved since their independent birth has been brutal. According to some analyses, Dreame is the third manufacturer of robot vacuum cleaners with a share of 11.3%. They only have Ecovacs ahead with 13.6% and Roborock with 19.3%. In Europe they are very well positioned, reporting great growth in revenue during the first half of this year, and the consequence is what we saw during the presentation at the IFA a few months ago.
The mobile phone will be the control center, that N+1 that we have seen in companies like the aforementioned Xiaomi or Huawei, and at the German fair they announced that, along with the consolidation of their personal care range, robot vacuum cleaners, vacuum cleaners, lawnmower robots and pool cleaner, will launch in Spain in the coming months televisions, air conditioners, dishwashers and kitchen appliances. They are already at itwith small appliances, accessories and even smart lighting.
In this photo the ecosystem is that of Xiaomi. It could easily be Dreame’s future. Image | Xataka
Ford already said it. It is, as we said, a carbon copy of the strategy that has worked so well for Xiaomi. They entered with competitive technology at a good price to gain market share and customer loyalty, and now they want to expand the ecosystem with all types of connected devices. It is a strategy within the reach of not all companies, but it is drawing the attention even of people like Jim Farley.
Farley is the CEO of Ford and, in his quest to understand why chinese cars are winning toast to Westerners, he has been driving the Xiaomi SU7. Apart from other characteristics, what impresses him most is the ecosystem: With your cell phone you control the car, and from the car you control the house.
Ambition. Given this, the fact that a robot vacuum cleaner manufacturer launches a mobile phone is not a surprise and responds to a strategy in which manufacturers want us to have a house full of their devices, controlling everything from a single app. And, if possible, from your mobile.
And it is not surprising if we look at the investment figures in research and development. Dreame has 5,000 employees and 60% of its staff is dedicated to R&D. They invest 7% of their annual income in this segment and it is evident that Dreame wants to stop being the Chinese Dyson.
It wants to be the new Xiaomi.
Images | HuaweiXataka, Dreame
In Xataka | A Chinese company you don’t know makes 35% of all microwaves in the world. Probably yours too
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