Dyson to expand into China’s vacuum market

Dyson, the UK-based vacuum cleaner giant, announced Thursday a foray into the Chinese market.

While the company's billionaire inventor has repeatedly expressed concerns over illegitimate copycats of his patents in China, the brand will now dive into a market that has already welcomed a slew of other manufacturers.

James Dyson, the company's eponymous inventor and chief engineer, announced the Chinese launch of the company's bagless vacuum cleaner products and bladeless electronic fan lineup at a press conference in Shanghai Thursday.

Currently, nine select outlets in Beijing and Shanghai sell Dyson products, and the number is expected to rise to as many as 200 across the country by the end of next year, Maggie Chung, deputy general manager of the Dyson Division at Jebsen Consumer Products, told the Global Times Thursday.

"The great growth potential in China's market has in recent years increasingly attracted international vacuum cleaner brands to aim for a foothold here," Sun Yingying, a market researcher at consultancy GfK Retail and Technology China Co, told the Global Times, naming iRobot Corp and Dirt Devil Inc as examples.

Though China contains more than 400 million households, vacuum cleaner products have not penetrated the vast market at nearly the same levels as other home appliance items such as televisions and refrigerators, Sun explained, adding "the average price of vacuum cleaner items sold in China has been rising rapidly since 2010, further whetting the appetite of global brands."

Retail sales of vacuum cleaner products in China have maintained double-digit growth over the past few years, according to GfK.

Expressing optimism about China's market, inventor Dyson also addressed "unfair competition" by copycats of his inventions, in response to questions raised by the Global Times.

A majority of the patent infringement lawsuits the company is pursuing, especially over the bladeless electronic fan, are related to China, he said.