I used to think that smart home was the exclusive domain of American and European brands. Who would have thought that as soon as the global market data in 2025 was announced, Chinese players would directly kick Amazon off the throne.
This change did not happen suddenly, but was the result of years of hard work.
IDC’s authoritative report shows that in 2025, a Chinese company called EZVIZ’s annual shipments exceeded 18.9 million units, and its global market share steadily accounted for 13.2%.
This is not only transcendence, but also a move from OEM at the bottom of the industrial chain to the top to gain the right to speak.
Annual revenue is close to 6 billion. What is the secret behind this number?
You must know that in the past many years, most Chinese brands could only survive through OEM or low-price OEM methods, and rarely had the opportunity to stand in the spotlight.
Many peers are still thinking about how to sell hardware more cheaply, but this company has already changed its track.
It does not engage in single-item sales, but implements a “2 + 5 + N” strategy.
To put it simply, the self-developed AI large model plus the cloud platform serve as two engines to drive the five major categories of cameras, door locks, and robots.
Once you use its app in one scenario, the trouble and threshold of changing the brand in the next scenario will become larger, and you will naturally become a user within the ecosystem.
According to the financial report, the revenue of this type of smart door locks will increase by nearly 48% in 2024, and the revenue of sweeping robots will soar by 265%, indicating that users’ willingness to repurchase is increasing. This is not a traffic business, but a retention business.
The most powerful aspect of this style of play is the optimization of the profit structure.
Traditional hardware sells for a few cents per dollar, but its cloud service revenue exceeded 20% of total revenue for the first time last year, with gross profit margins as high as over 70%.
This is like a razor stand that doesn’t make any money and relies entirely on the blades to collect water.
Hardware is just the ticket, and cloud services are the continuous cash flow, which allows it to jump out of the endless cycle of low-price involution.
R&D investment is also very solid, with R&D personnel accounting for nearly 33%, the expense rate reaching 14.61%, and the cumulative number of patents exceeding 1,600. These are invisible moats and the cornerstone to support technology iteration.
The channel layout has not taken an unusual path.
Many overseas companies rely on Amazon’s single platform, which is very risky, but it has taken the initiative to keep Amazon’s revenue share below 40%.
Fnac in France, MediaMarkt in Germany, and large retail stores in North America are all present.
In Southeast Asia, it is deeply tied to Shopee, and cooperates with more than 5,000 local experts every year, from technology bloggers to pet circles, and penetrates at all levels.
Overseas revenue accounted for nearly 40%, reaching 2.338 billion yuan, and the growth rate was 17.8 times that of the domestic market.
When a brand’s overseas growth far exceeds that of domestic sales, it proves that it is not a cosmetic project for export to domestic sales, but has taken root in different cultures.
This reminds me of my colleague Lao Zhao, who lives across the street. He just installed a complete system for his old mother who lives alone a while ago.
He said that in the past, he was most worried that no one would know if an elderly person fell at home. The new system has a particularly good detail. The camera can actively distinguish between normal activities and accidental falls.
Last week, the old lady slipped in the kitchen and immediately received a notification on her phone. Zhao flew back that night to take care of her.
He was holding a cup of coffee and told me that this was a cruel move, but it really saved the day.
This real sense of security is more important than any parameter.
For many middle-aged people, the safety of their parents is the biggest pain point, not the appearance of the device.
At this time point in 2026, what we are competing for is no longer the cold number of devices, but the understanding of AI.
In the past, monitoring could only passively record, but now the equipment can actively understand the picture.
For example, if you ask the device what happened at the door yesterday afternoon, it can extract the essence summary directly from the local host.
The key is that all calculations are completed at home, and the video does not need to be uploaded to the cloud, which not only solves the delay problem but also protects family privacy.
This ability to “let machines understand life” also extends to door locks and sweepers. Children can interact with the door locks, and the sweeper can clean areas.
This is undoubtedly a huge plus at a time when data compliance is becoming increasingly stringent.
The growth rate of overseas revenue is more than 17 times that of the domestic market, which shows that the product has really survived in different cultural soils.
From a simple security tool to a warm family member, this is the right move.
In the past, Chinese manufacturing relied on price to break through, but now relies on technology and ecology to win respect. There is still a long way to go to appreciate the scenery on this road.
Looking at these changes, I feel that the next ten years will belong to those who make products in a down-to-earth manner.
If you were asked to redecorate a smart security system for your home, would you give priority to the richness of functions, or would you care more about the sense of privacy brought by localized storage?
Tell us your real concerns in the comment section.
