A staff member introduces a product to a visitor at the booth of DJI at the 5th China International Consumer Products Expo (CICPE) in Haikou, south China's Hainan Province, April 15, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]

Chinese drone giant DJI stepped into the smart home cleaning market on Wednesday with its inaugural robotic vacuum cleaner series, expanding its technological expertise beyond aerial devices.

The new product line, called the DJI ROMO series, integrates sweeping and mopping capabilities, leveraging the company's proprietary environmental sensing and intelligent path planning technologies originally honed for its drone operations.

"ROMO represents DJI's first strategic shift from aerial intelligence to home cleaning scenario," said Zhang Xiaonan, spokesperson of Shenzhen-based DJI.

While home floors differ from aerial environments, the core principle remains identical -- employing intelligent navigation, environmental perception, and precision control to enable machines to serve people more effectively and intelligently, Zhang said.

The company's drone expertise positions it to tackle key challenges in the robotic vacuum industry, the spokesperson added.

The company said the ROMO series is expected to launch in overseas markets later this year, though specific launch dates and regions remain unconfirmed.

Global robotic vacuum shipments reached 20.6 million units in 2024, up 11.2 percent year on year, according to market research firm IDC. The firm's Q1 2025 report showed global shipments rising to 5.1 million units, an increase of 11.9 percent from the previous year. Chinese brands Roborock, Ecovacs, Dreame and Xiaomi claimed four of the top five spots by shipment volume.