China's Roborock, the leading corporation in the domestic robot vacuum cleaner market, has solidified its position by launching the industry's thinnest advanced artificial intelligence (AI) robot vacuum cleaner. Roborock is the first in the industry to introduce three-dimensional (3D) time-of-flight (ToF) technology, typically used in aircraft, into robot vacuum cleaners, enhancing AI cleaning performance.
On the 20th, Roborock held the '2025 Roborock New Product Launch' event at the Grand InterContinental Seoul Parnas Hotel in Samseong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, and unveiled its flagship robot vacuum cleaners 'S9 MaxV Ultra' and 'S9 MaxV Slim.' Dan Cham, Roborock's head of marketing for the Asia-Pacific region, said, "These are products that incorporate the innovations desired by Korean consumers," adding that the AI navigation system, which determines cleaning functions, has been upgraded to detect and avoid wires on the floor and small obstacles of 2 cm. The main body thickness has been reduced from 10.3 cm to 7.89 cm, allowing it to easily maneuver under low spaces of furniture. When it detects a threshold, the front wheels lift to overcome obstacles of up to 4 cm.
Roborock has launched two types of flagship robot vacuum cleaners for the first time, differentiating them by sensor space recognition and mopping methods to match market demand. The S9 MaxV Slim features AI-based navigation technology for the first time. By utilizing 3D ToF and dual lidar technology, the robot vacuum scans its surrounding environment in 3D and maps the cleaning route more precisely. With 21,600 sensors, it can detect up to 108 obstacles such as wires and socks, enabling it to clean complex spaces with precision. The bottom of the main body is equipped with two rotating mops designed to perform water cleaning with strong pressure.
The S9 MaxV Ultra is equipped with a two-dimensional (2D) laser space sensor that moves up and down. This sensor, mounted on the top of the main body, automatically lowers the height when it detects lower spaces. Even when the sensor lowers, an advanced system consisting of a wide-angle vision module and a distance measurer detects obstacles to maintain cleaning performance.
Unlike the slim model which has a rotating mop, the ultra model is equipped with an ultrasonic vibrating mop and a side small mop. The dust suction power of the ultra model is 22,000Pa (pascal), capable of easily picking up small debris even on carpets, making it among the highest levels in the country. The main mop vibrates ultrasonically 4,000 times per second, and the side small mop automatically rises to wipe the wall to a precision of 0.51 mm when it detects corners. Additionally, when it detects a carpet, the mop is automatically detached from the main body to prevent the carpet from getting wet.
In the Korean market, where foreign appliances find it challenging to survive, Roborock recorded a market share in the domestic robot vacuum cleaner segment of nearly 40% as of last year. Since entering the Korean market in 2020, Roborock's domestic sales have surged by over 200% annually, surpassing 200 billion won in 2023. Sales recorded in the first half of 2024 reached 142 billion won. Leveraging the all-in-one mopping function and AI navigation mapping technology that Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics introduced late, Roborock achieved the number one market share just two years after entering Korea.
Amid growing concerns about the security of Chinese electronics, Roborock emphasized its technological capability and user information protection during the event. A representative from Roborock stated, "Images and videos are not transmitted to the server; they are encrypted and stored only on the machine before being discarded, and the camera is set with a dual lock to prevent hacking." The new products have obtained the highest security grade certification from the global security standard TVU Rheinland and UL Solutions security evaluation.
Recently, there have been concerns that customer personal information collected by Roborock could be shared with its affiliates or other service providers in China without user consent. However, Dan Cham dismissed this as "fake news," stating, "All servers, including Roborock's, are located in the United States, not in China, and there is no transmission of data to China," and added that "Korea has laws regarding data processing; thus, Roborock must comply with these standards and obtain customer consent."
Roborock announced that it will introduce not only robot vacuum cleaners but also various household appliances to target the Korean home appliance market. Following the introduction of washing and drying machines in the domestic market last year, an upgraded model will also be released this year. It plans to improve weaknesses in after-sales service (AS) compared to domestic brands. Roborock noted, "Currently, we operate AS reception services at over 330 locations nationwide, including Hi-Mart stores, and we will strengthen our 'door-to-door' service in the future."