Roborock Asia Pacific Director Joan Hu Interview session: Introducing and sharing the new S8 series

Roborock is a Chinese company founded in 2014, specialising in the Development and Production of Robotic Vacumm Cleaner. With the recent launch of its new S8 series, Roborock is experiencing steady growth. Min had the pleasure to have an interview with Joan Hu, Roborock's Asia Pacific Director, to introduce and share the new S8 series and the outlook for the future.

Question 1: As the star of the first offline launch in Malaysia, are there any notable "Exclusive Features" in the Roborock S8 series?

The S8 Pro Ultra will be even more powerful than the previous S series, being the vacuum cleaner robot with the DuoRoller Riser Brush function, providing a function like mopping without sweeping or vacuuming without mopping. In addition, the design of the dual rubber brushes also prevents hairs from getting tangled in the brush head for a more effective cleaning.

Question 2: Besides the upcoming Roborock S8 series, will there be any other models joining the lineup this year?

The next model to join the lineup will be the recently launched Roborock Q Revo in the U.S. It is also the first sweep and mop robot with a double spiral mopping cloth design with a spinning speed of 200 RPM will effectively clean the floor stains.

Also, the mopping cloth will automatically lift up when it returns to charging dock or passes by the carpets so you don't have to worry about getting the floor dirty again in the process. It will be released throughout Southeast Asia by June or July.

As the latest S8 series was just released, it is uncertain whether the new flagship model would be released at the end of this year. Additionally, the new model of vacuum robots is not as frequent as other 3C products, but if there is, they will most likely release the more affordable Q8 series.

Although we must wait until a later stage to know whether it will happen by the end of this year, we can be certain that the Roborock Q Revo will launch in the middle of this year.

Question 3: Since Malaysia is still in an economic downturn, are there any struggles on the side of Roborock during this period?

There won’t be much impact on the high-end market. The sales of the Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra, which was launched last year and priced at RM5,999, surged, which means that consumers are willing to pay for it as long as they have confidence in the product.

On the contrary, the sales in the low-end market is in a state of decline since it is more competitive and offers more options for consumers. The state of the economic downturn definitely will have a partial impact, but it is certain that the status of flagship product is not easily shaken because its outstanding performance also increases the user's trust in it.

Question 4: With Hari Raya coming up, will Roborock be offering special offers or planning to hold roadshows during this festive season?

Roborock has a strong partnership with Shopee and Lazada, so we will continue to offer various discounts throughout the holiday season to allow more customers to own the Roborock robot vacuum cleaner. Hence, there will certainly be special offers.

For offline activities such as roadshows, I prefer to hold them after the Roborock flagship store is opened. For starters, consumers will be concerned about the brand if a roadshow is held without a physical store. Having a physical store, however, will at least provide them peace of mind that they don't have to worry about where to contact customer support after the roadshow.