Under the dual promotion of the “artificial intelligence +” action and the “old-for-new” policy for home appliances, China’s smart home industry is accelerating its evolution from “single product intelligence” to “whole-house active services”, profoundly changing people’s home lifestyle.
The China Household Appliances Service and Maintenance Association predicts that the whole-house smart system market will reach 280 billion yuan in 2026, with a penetration rate of over 35%.
The deep empowerment of large AI models has transformed home appliances from passive working tools into “health partners” that actively serve families, redefining the interactive relationship between people and the home environment.
From the perspective of market structure, the smart home appliance industry presents a diversified development pattern.
According to Quantuo statistics, China’s smart home appliance market will be about 793.8 billion yuan in 2025, of which smart large appliances account for 52% and still dominate; smart kitchen appliances perform well, accounting for 28%, with an annual growth rate of more than 30%, becoming an important engine for industry growth; smart small home appliances account for 20%, and products such as sweeping robots and smart speakers are increasingly popular and are forming new consumer hot spots.
The younger generation is becoming the absolute main force in smart home appliance consumption.
Quantuo data shows that 42% of consumers are between 25 and 35 years old, 31% are between 35 and 45 years old, and 27% are over 45 years old.
Unlike the previous generation of consumers, young people are significantly less price sensitive and pay more attention to product experience and the practicality of smart functions.
It is worth noting that the market acceptance of whole-house smart solutions has reached 61%, reflecting consumers’ strong demand for an integrated smart life experience.
As the “vanguard” of smart homes, the sweeping robot industry is undergoing a strategic transformation from “functional products” to “intelligent equipment”.
The latest monitoring from Quantuo Data shows that the market size will exceed 27 billion yuan in 2025.
From the perspective of the market structure, the industry presents a competitive situation of “one super, many strong”: Ecovacs ranks firmly in the first echelon with a market share of 38%, Roborock Technology (22%), Cloud Whale (14%), and Zhuimi (11%) form the second camp, and Xiaomi and emerging brands continue to stir up the market.
It is worth noting that cross-border player DJI has risen rapidly since launching its sweeping and mopping robot in August 2025, and by the beginning of 2026 it has ranked among the top six in the industry.
Technological innovation is the core driving force for industry development. The penetration rate of laser navigation technology has reached 92%. AI algorithm iteration has increased the obstacle avoidance success rate to 95%, and the efficiency of clean path planning has increased by 40%.
The sales of products equipped with automatic dust collection function increased by 210% year-on-year, with self-cleaning mop models accounting for 65%. The technological upgrade directly drove the unit price per customer to increase by 28%.
The two-wheel drive of policy stimulus and overseas business has injected strong impetus into industrial development.
The latest data from the General Administration of Customs shows that from January to February 2026, China exported a total of 802.852 million units of home appliances, a year-on-year increase of 16.4%, showing the continued improvement of the global competitiveness of China’s home appliances.
At the same time, the national “old-for-new” policy continues to be in force. Sales of home appliances will pick up significantly in the beginning of 2026, with significant year-on-year sales improvements in categories such as air conditioners and refrigerators.
Quantuo Data believes that my country’s smart home industry has entered a new stage of high-quality development.
With the continuous breakthroughs in technology and the continuous innovation of business models, smart home appliances are profoundly changing people’s home lifestyle.
In the next three years, the industry will present three deterministic trends: accelerated technological integration, service model innovation, and deepening globalization.
For enterprises, only by accurately grasping technological trends and changes in consumer demand and continuously improving product innovation capabilities can they win opportunities in the fierce market competition and create a more convenient, comfortable and safe home life experience for consumers.
