By Lu Yao, Edited by Liu Wei
"Following the implementation of new FCC regulations and the failure to secure top-tier customers, the 3D vision leader's first foray into complete machine ODM ended hastily with shipments of only a few thousand units. "
Leiphone has exclusively learned that Orbbec, a 3D vision and perception company, made an internal decision in mid-September to cut its robotic mower ODM business. However, the vision module product line remains unaffected, and the perception modules for outdoor robots are still advancing normally.
Looking back at its entry path, the robotic mower ODM business was originally highly anticipated. The project was strongly promoted by the former head of sales for the robotics business. Orbbec once invested complete machine R&D resources into it and secured an order from a customer in Shanghai. However, the actual cumulative shipments reached only a few thousand units, far below expectations.
Insiders revealed that cutting the ODM business is a timely stop-loss under the superposition of multiple factors, with three main reasons.
First, the new FCC regulations. On July 28 this year, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) added "advanced robotic equipment produced overseas" to the controlled list, and robotic mowers happen to fall within the definition boundary. On September 11, the FCC released new equipment authorization rules, further tightening the authorization path for related equipment. The entry threshold for the North American market has suddenly increased.
Second, the track is overly crowded. The robotic mower was originally the fastest-growing category in yard robots, but this has also attracted a large number of robot vacuum and pool robot manufacturers to enter the robotic mower market, intensifying fierce competition in the industry.
Third, the logic of securing major customers failed to work. "Failing to secure a major backer," whether the ODM model can succeed depends not only on technical capabilities but also on the sales volume and channel capabilities of downstream brands. The customers' shipment volume cannot support an ODM product line. The cancellation of the robotic mower ODM means that Orbbec's role in the robotic mower track has retreated from "stepping into the market to build complete machines" to "supplying perception solutions upstream." This is also a microcosm of Orbbec shrinking its resources back to its core perception business.
Currently, Orbbec mainly has three major product lines: robotics, scanning and innovation, and biometrics. Among them, robotics is the absolute focus. The robotic mower ODM was previously classified under the robotics product line and was subsequently promoted collaboratively across the entire sales system. With the advancement of the company's "Company-Wide Embodied AI" strategy, its customers are almost entirely robot manufacturers, differing only in industry scenarios. The boundaries between product lines are no longer as clear as before. Compared to continuing to invest in complete machine ODM for robotic mowers, Orbbec will focus more on embodied AI data collection equipment next, which fits Orbbec's capability boundaries better than complete machine contract manufacturing.
The exit of the robotic mower ODM adds another footnote to upstream sensor companies entering the complete machine manufacturing market. Between perception solution providers and complete machine brands, there are three thresholds: customers, channels, and compliance. Not every company can step over them.