Dyson
Dhruti sundar Pradhan
Senior IT consultant, ITC Consulting || Ex-TCSer ||Certified Boomi Developer | SAP CPI Developer | SAP Successfactors Integration | Empowering Businesses with Integrated Solutions
Dyson Ltd is a British technology agency installed in the United Kingdom by way of Sir James Dyson in 1991. It designs and manufactures householdhome equipment such as vacuum cleaners, air purifiers, hand dryers, bladeless fans, heaters, hair dryers, and lights. As of February 2018, Dyson had greater than 12,000 employees worldwide. In January 2019 it used to be announced that Dyson would cross its headquarters to Singapore to ramp up manufacturing for their electric vehicle, pointing out Asia exchange will be their predominant center of attention and commenting that the business enterprise was once unhappy with EU/UK bureaucratic restrictions.
The James Dyson Award is an worldwide student diagram award jogging in 18 countries. It is run by the James Dyson Foundation, James Dyson's charitable trust, as section of its mission to motivate the subsequent generation of graph engineers to be creative, challenging and inventive. The James Dyson Award is presented collectively to college students and their university.
The James Dyson Foundation aims to encourage younger people to study engineering and emerge as engineers. By touring schools and universities and offering workshops for younger people, the basis hopes to encourage creativity and ingenuity. Over 727 schools in Great Britain and Northern Ireland have used Dyson's educational "Ideas Boxes", sent to teachers and pupils, in order to examine more about the format process. The James Dyson Foundation additionally presents bursaries and scholarships to aspiring engineers.
iRobot- iRobot is the top competitor of Dyson. iRobot is a Public company that was founded in Bed ford, Massachusetts in 1990. Like Dyson, iRobot also operates in the Household Products sector. iRobot has 6,468 fewer employees vs. Dyson.
Hoover- Hoover is seen as one of Dyson's biggest rivals. Hoover was founded in Solon, Ohio} in 1907. Like Dyson, Hoover also competes in the Household Products space. Compared to Dyson, Hoover generates $2.9B less revenue.
Electrolux- Electrolux is perceived as one of Dyson's biggest rivals. Electrolux was founded in 1919, and is headquartered in Stadshagen, Stockholms l?n. Like Dyson, Electrolux also operates in the Consumer Electronics space. Electrolux generates $10.7B more revenue vs. Dyson.
Dyson seeks pioneer-status incentives for Philippine-made products. THE PHILIPPINE UNIT of Dyson Electronics Pte. Ltd., a British founded technological know-how organization that anounced a strategic relocation to Singapore, is in search of pioneer reputation from the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) to manufacture hair dryers, vacuum cleaners and motors for its appliances.The purposes cowl production of the V7 and V8 Dyson Digital Motor (DDM), the V7 and V8 vacuum cleaners, the V9 DDM and V9 “Supersonic” hairdryer, and the V10 DDM and V10 vacuum cleaners. The products are manufactured at Camelray Industrial Park II in Calamba, Laguna, a PEZA economic zone.
The software is based totally on the remaining product being first to be produced in the Philippines, which if authorised will entitle the employer to six years of income tax holidays (ITH), towards 4 year for non-pioneer projects.“Said utility has been officially popular and is underneath systemin this office,” PEZA stated in a be aware published Tuesday in a newspaper.PEZA has solicited remark on the applications, which are due within 15 days of the notice’s publication. — Janina C. Lim
Market position of Dyson Ltd
Before Dyson, it’s difficult to think about that anyone envisioned a future, the place a vacuum cleaner would end up an icon for an whole country. Yet, somehow, this easy and effective organization has turned its focus on first-rate innovation and phrase of mouth advertising and marketing to create an completely unforgettable brand.
Despite difficult beginnings, brimming with controversy and failure, the Dyson manufacturer emerged over the years as a sincerely quintessential British brand, often listed alongside organizations like Vivienne Westwood, Marks & Spencer, and Pashley. From a advertising perspective, the Dyson branding strategy can teach us wonderful lessons on how to join with our audiences, evolve , innovate. For something constructed around a distinctly mundane, and frequently unnoticed household item, Dyson has developed a tremendous amount of sway in the marketplace, establishing itself no longer solely as one of the greatest manufacturers in Britain, however also one of the most memorable family name history.
The query is, how did the Dyson brand identification come so far? What makes it one of our favoured magnificent British brands, and what can your commercial enterprise research from its adventures into the world of tremendous marketing?
Let’s get to work on answering those questions, with the aid of exploring Dyson, and supplying a unique view of a corporation that blows the opposition away.
Dyson delivers: The Dyson brand history
We can’t talk to anybody about a vacuum cleaner, a fan, or even a hairdryer barring the name showing up somewhere. Since the organisation entered the marketplace in the early 90s, their gadgets have emerged as top-of-the-line products, perfect for banishing dirt from your carpet, or even blowdrying your hair.
Whether it’s the vibrant plastic designs that have a fond area in your heart, the revolutionary bag-free technology, or virtually the advertisements with their soothing British voice-overs, Dyson has executed a type of ubiquity these days as the ultimate household product. It’s no surprise that the namesake and founder of the business, James Dyson, has a net-worth of about $4.6 billion on average.
Now that the Dyson manufacturer is doing so well, it may be hard for you to imagine a time when James couldn’t promote his game-changing notion no matter how difficult he tried. However, one of the first instructions that Dyson branding can train us, is that start-up corporations every now and then have to struggle earlier than they discover success.
The Dyson ride started in 1978 when James determined that there had to be a higher way to smooth his home than the usage of the tired-old vacuum cleaners of the day. His dream was once to develop a bagless vacuum that didn’t lose suction, no rely what. The thought regarded easyenough, but transforming that concept into a reality wasn’t as handy as you may think.The thought for the bagless gadget came to james Dyson after he spotted a neighbourhood saw mill, which was once the usage of a 30-foot-high centrifuge cone to spin dust out of the air. Dyson figured that the very same technological know-how ought to be shrunken down and built into the technological know-how behind a bag-less vacuum cleaner. All he wished to do used to be find any individual to assist him.
Of course, like most entrepreneurs, James found that the route to success was once a problematic one. In fact, he spent the subsequent fifteen years growing and adapting his graph – something which led to the manufacturing of no much less than 5,127 extraordinary prototype cleaners. More than 5,000 attempts later, James had the technology he needed to alternate the world, and the Dyson brand began.
Setting up a shop in the Cotswolds, James began to grow a commercial enterprise that would rapidly emerge as one of our quintessentially British brands. The Dyson brand title unfold across the United Kingdom, and around the world too, not just with vacuum cleaners, but with bladeless fans and funky hairdryers.
According james Dyson,the manufacturer still features round a occasion of taking risks and making massive innovations.The employer has absolutely embraced danger and the ever-present possibility of failure as section of their procedure for success. Perhaps this is one of the motives why the Dyson advertising and marketing group doesn’t have to work too tough on attracting new engineers and tech specialists to the team.
When you join Dyson family,youget nearly whole freedom to explore opportunities and innovate with the technological know-how accessible to you. People can go and attempt out their ideas, get involved with the graphprocess, and suppose outdoor of the box when it comes to handing over new products. According to James Dyson: “The stranger and riskier, the better.”
A company that doesn’t suck: The Dyson brand identity
we know where the Dyson brand comes from, now let’s talk about the things that have made it such a pervasive identity in the British marketplace. Ultimately, the only way to truly stand out from your competition, establish strong connections with your audience, and ensure long-term success for your business, is to build a brand.
However, according to James Dyson, the whole concept of a “brand” is something that’s ignored and even banned in his company. James believes that the Dyson brand is only ever as strong as its latest product, and as such, he thinks that “branding” as a concept is unnecessary.
Of course, if we dive a little deeper into the Dyson strategy, it’s clear to see that Dyson does branding better than most. It might not have a specific “branding” team in its professional community, but it invests in all the elements that contribute to a powerful identity. With that in mind, it seems that Sir Dyson might not understand what the term “brand” really means. After all, it’s a complicated concept to get your head around.
A brand is “what people say about you when you’re not in the room”. It’s your reputation as a company, the personality that informs your marketing material, and the collection of values and purposes that drives everything you do. Let’s look at some of the Dyson branding initiatives that Sir James is overlooking when he disregards the concept of “brand”:
1. The Dyson brand voice
Brands have a tone of voice and a personality that makes it easier for them to connect with their customers. It’s this personality that transforms a company into something more, providing the “human” elements that facilitate long-term relationships. Let’s take a look at Dyson’s voice on Twitter, for example.
We see that it’s:
Clever.
Meticulous.
Innovative.
Forward-thinking.
Dyson focuses on showing its intelligent side to its audience, so that customers know they can trust them to deliver next-level technology
2. The Dyson brand story
Powerful brands also have a story – something that connects customers to the business origin, and helps to establish a sense of loyalty in followers. In Dyson’s case, the story is very similar to Apple’s, which focused on two men working in their garage to create something incredible.Dyson struggled through years of hardship and failure to make his dream a reality. He even memorialised his inspiration with a video.
3. The Dyson brand logo
Great British brands also have memorable icons: visual images that make it easier for customers to recognise them. Dyson has a number of these elements in its portfolio. For instance, it’s got the iconic yellow plastic in its vacuums that helps to make the device look simpler and more appealing. The Dyson brand also has the roller balls and plastic holding cells that make cleaning your home more efficient.
Of course, there’s also the smooth and effective Dyson brand logo to think about. With a sans-serif typography logo, Dyson highlights its friendly nature as a company and refuse to draw attention away from the innovation of its product. The black and white colouring speaks to innovation and sophistication in a timeless way.
4. The Dyson brand purpose
An effective brand also has a creed – something that can be outlined in its brand manifesto and used to guide decisions made in the future. Dyson is incredibly straightforward when it comes to telling its customers what it’s all about: simplicity and innovation.
Short and snappy taglines used throughout marketing messages and advertising, like “Designed to move”, or “The vacuum that doesn’t lose suction”, might not be the most creative phrases in the advertising world, but they’re still effective at sharing the brand purpose with the masses.
5. The Dyson brand values
Finally, a brand has a set of values that its customers can respect, and its followers can stick to. Innovation is an obvious value for Dyson and something that it has focused on consistently throughout the years. However, the company also looks at values like design aesthetics, functionality, creativity, reliability, and luxury too.
For example, while Dyson promises you some of the most intuitive devices available on the market, the brand also expects you to pay more for them. The company has never competed with other brands on price. Instead, it believes that its USP and loyal customer following is all that’s needed to be successful in the marketplace. That strategy has worked well thus far.
So, for a company that claims to ignore the value of “brand”, Dyson has all the makings of a pretty good branding experience. Combine that with the fact that Sir James has spent around $20 million on TV advertising alone to share his company identity with the world, and you can see for sure that Dyson is just as dedicated to branding as the rest of us.
Dyson marketing: Creating a loyal customer base
Now that we’ve established that Dyson does have a brand (regardless of its arguments to the contrary), we can look at what the Dyson branding strategy does differently, to help it stand out in the hearts and minds of British customers.
At least to some extent, it’s fair to say that Dyson’s success can be attributed to the legions of British customers who not only purchase the company’s products but also rave about them to their friends. Dyson marketing is a lesson in the power of word of mouth. From the moment this new technology emerged, the Dyson vacuum became more than just another vacuum cleaner.
The creativity and innovation that the Dyson brand brought to the market went beyond the concept of a bagless cleaner. Dyson vacuums felt different, looked different, and acted differently compared to anything else the British homeowner had experienced before. Dyson effectively transformed the vacuum into a status symbol and a lifestyle product for the UK.
Dyson marketing: Creating a loyal customer base
Now that we’ve established that Dyson does have a brand (regardless of its arguments to the contrary), we can look at what the Dyson branding strategy does differently, to help it stand out in the hearts and minds of British customers.
At least to some extent, it’s fair to say that Dyson’s success can be attributed to the legions of British customers who not only purchase the company’s products but also rave about them to their friends. Dyson marketing is a lesson in the power of word of mouth. From the moment this new technology emerged, the Dyson vacuum became more than just another vacuum cleaner.
The creativity and innovation that the Dyson brand brought to the market went beyond the concept of a bagless cleaner. Dyson vacuums felt different, looked different, and acted differently compared to anything else the British homeowner had experienced before. Dyson effectively transformed the vacuum into a status symbol and a lifestyle product for the UK.
By hosting events, the Dyson brand gives customers the opportunity to try new products for themselves, before making the purchase. This helps the company to truly give power to the unique selling points of the items in their portfolio, rather than relying on marketing campaigns to do the talking.
Over several years, the Dyson marketing team has been using sites like Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube to great effect when it comes to raising brand awareness and recognition. For instance, we all remember the innovative day when Dyson revealed their new “revolutionary” bladeless fan. The Dyson brand released details about the fan in 2009 before the actual product hit shelves in 2010.
In the months between, the company teased the public with mysterious and exiting marketing campaigns, intended to leave people asking questions about the product. In its marketing videos, Dyson didn’t make it immediately clear what kind of product was being released. Instead, it simply indicated that once again, it was delivering something brand-new to the market.
About a month before release, another YouTube video was released showing how a balloon could be directed around the room using the Dyson brand fans. This inspired the public, captured their imaginations, and got people talking. Once again, Dyson was able to leverage word of mouth as the perfect way to share new ideas:
If you add to these great videos the well-populated social media pages that Dyson runs for each country, and the regular appearances that the man behind the business makes to re-connect with his audience, you can see why many experts consider Dyson to be a master of social media.
Lessons to learn from the Dyson brand
Before we draw this quintessentially British brand article to a close, let’s look back over the things we’ve learned from the Dyson brand and the ideas that businesses can use as they set themselves up for growth in the future. After all, it takes time, patience, and focus to create a truly unforgettable brand.
If you had asked James Dyson when he had his idea for a bagless vacuum whether he thought he’d be a billionaire a couple of decades later, the chances are he would have laughed at you. Yet, his complex experience has shown us that anyone, from any background, can create a brand that serves, inspires, and engages customers. Just keep these lessons in mind:
1. Great results take time
Dyson began with an innovative idea, like many startup companies. James Dyson felt that his current vacuum cleaner just wasn’t working very well. Though his idea for a USP was on point, and he had the know-how to create something incredible, it still took more than 5,000 different prototypes before the Dyson brand found the product that would transform the world. In other words, before you give up on your brand purpose because it seems too hard, or too time-consuming, try learning a lesson in patience from Dyson.
2. Ambassadors don’t come easy
Even though we can all argue that the Dyson cyclone cleaner was much better than its older counterparts, with the ability to suck up dirt faster, and more successfully than anything else on the market – that didn’t make it an instant success. If your plan for going to market is to create something new and revolutionary, then you’re going to have to convince your customers to trust you before you can earn your much-needed brand ambassadors. Even with the lure of discounts, it took time for Dyson to out-perform its competitors. Remember, just keep trying.
3. Always keep innovating
While excellent branding and a powerful marketing strategy can do wonders for getting your name out in the marketplace, it’s worth remembering that you won’t be able to accomplish much without a portfolio of excellent products. When the Dyson brand emerged, it was with a next-level product unlike anything else on the market at the time. However, Dyson knew that it couldn’t rest on its laurels after achieving success with its unique vacuum cleaner. The Dyson brand identity continued to evolve as the team innovated with new ideas for fans, hairdryers and robot cleaners too.
Quintessentially British brands: The Dyson experience
Ultimately, we believe that Dyson earned its position as a quintessentially British brand, through years of revolutionary design and development. When you look back over how the Dyson brand identity have evolved, its history, and its incredible approach to marketing, it’s easy to forget that we’re talking about a company that rose to success with nothing more than a vacuum cleaner.
Perhaps the simplest lesson to learn from Dyson is that if you’re passionate about what you’re doing, you can accomplish amazing things. While Dyson had to face debt and hardship to get to where he is today, he also succeeded in creating a brand that will stand in the annals of history for decades to come.
Notably, whether James Dyson believes in the concept of “branding” or not, he’s managed to design one of Britain’s greatest examples of a memorable, customer-focused brand. He believed in what he was doing and focused on a design that changed the world, rather than worrying exclusively about the concept of making money.
It’s highly likely that Dyson will continue to create dynamic, revolutionary products in the years ahead, potentially branching off to ever-more exciting areas. For now, you have your chance to learn from the lessons that the Dyson brand has shared, and do your part in creating a company identity that really cleans up.
Investment of Dyson Ltd in India
NEW DELHI: British tech firm Dyson will pump GBP 150 million (about Rs 1,300 crore) into its Indian operations over the next five years as it looks to make inroads into the burgeoning consumer durable market here.
The company, which today launched its products in the Indian market, will set up 20 stores across Delhi-NCR, Mumbai and Bengaluru.
"India is a very important market for us and we see a lot of potential here. We expect it to be one of our top markets in the next few year India is a very important market for us and we see a lot of potential here. We expect it to be one of our top markets in the next few years," Dyson Chief Engineer and member of Dyson Board, Jake Dyson told PTI.
He added that the company's engineers spent time in Indian homes to ensure its products meet local requirement . Dyson, which operates in over 80 countries, counts markets like the US, the UK and China among its largest. "In India, we will invest GBP 150 million in the next five years. This will be directed towards retail expansion and other activities," Dyson said. "We will offer products through our own retail stores, direct to home and online through our website and Amazon.in," Dyson said. He added that the company will set up 20 retail stores - which would also act as demo zones - in top 10 Indian cities and the first one is slated to come up in Delhi. "Initially, the focus is on these key cities and as we see demand from other cities, we will take a call(on expanding there)," he said. When asked if the company plans to manufacturing its products in India, Dyson said it would depend on the sales volume. "We are aware that some of the components are sourced from India and so, it would make sense. But depending on the volume we see, we will take a decision," he said.The company may also explore setting up R&D unit in India, he added.
On marketing, Dyson said the brand would focus on the digital medium. Apart from the traditional sales channel, the company also intends to focus on direct selling, a route that companies like Eureka Forbes have embarked on years ago. Dyson said the company would have an in-house team for after-sales service. "We want to manage the entire life cycle, right from the purchase to after-sales .
It could not have been a worse day to arrive in Delhi for Sir James Dyson, the 69-year-old vacuum cleaner guru, engineer, inventor and Britain’s 13th richest person. He looked exhausted, tired and a bit down having interacted with the Indian media and business delegations all through one of the smoggiest days that the national capital had witnessed in recent memory.
Dyson flew in with British Prime Minister Theresa May as part of the business delegation. Ironically, Dyson sells innovative and out-of-world solutions for air purification. His company also sells vacuum cleaning, hair driers, hand driers and blade-less fans that spew cold or hot airs while simultaneously removing the harmful micro particulate matters.
As we settled down with Sir James in a small suite filled with Dyson’s wonder products at Delhi’s Taj Palace hotel, we got a sense that some senior colleagues from Dyson’s Hong Kong office were also in town to update their boss about the application they had recently filed with the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Commerce and Industries for seeking permission to hold the Single Brand Retail license for entering the Indian market.
Sir James is absolutely sure that Dyson will own and operate its own stores in India, if permitted, where he will sell his modern range of electronic products. “We have requested for a three-year relaxation in the local sourcing norms. We are hoping to hear on our application by midDecember,” says a senior executive from Dyson Group, who works in the Hong Kong office. “Do ask our founder and chief engineer for more information,” he said referring to Sir James Dyson.
“Why did you decide to enter India so late,” we asked Dyson straight away. “Because we needed to have the right products suitable for the Indian market. Having done remarkably well in Malaysia, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and several other countries, we felt this was the right time to enter and expand in India,” Dyson said.
As part of its India plans, Dyson will invest £150 million in the next three to five years to open stores and set up retail network here. “We will import the products from Malaysia, Singapore, or Philippine as we have our manufacturing plants there,” he said. Dyson designs and manufactures vacuum cleaners, hand dryers, bladeless fans, and heaters. It sells patented machines in over 70 countries and employs more than 7,000 people worldwide. But is it ready for the Indian conditions?
Local Sourcing Currently, 100 per cent foreign investment is allowed in single-brand retailing, of which up to 49 per cent foreign investment is under the automatic route and the balance under the approval route i.e., nod from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board. The local sourcing norm kicks in when FDI goes beyond 51 per cent. As per the current norms, the single brand licensor has to source at least 30 per cent of its raw material from local manufacturers. And this is where Dyson Group is facing some challenge as the group feels it cannot compromise its patented appliances before having a significant presence in India.
But there is some good news for Dyson and all other interested applicants. The NDA government is said to be reviewing the local sourcing norms in single-brand retail. One of the options under discussion is cutting down the mandatory requirement of 30 per cent local sourcing by half in case the licensor’s investments is much above the 51 per cent FDI and the proposal has been vetted by the government. Not just Dyson, a number of other US-based brands including Apple have been lobbying with the central government to re-look at the local sourcing norms.
Wonder Products
Dyson claims to offer products that are the fastest to dry hands hygienically with HEPA filtered air. Dyson Airblade hand dryers use 690 km/h sheets of air to scrape water from hands like a windscreen wiper, drying them quickly and hygienically in just 10-12 seconds, it claimed. Next on offer is the Dyson 360 Eye, a floor cleaning robot that uses a 360° panoramic vision camera and IR distance sensors to map a room and navigate. When asked about its target consumers in India, Dyson said: “There are 25 million well-off middle-class. We think our products will do well.” And when quizzed about the India pricing of its offerings, Dyson revealed that the average pricing of some of the product was around £300. “It cost what it costs to make one of these. We cannot compromise there,” he said.
Dyson said they may offer Indiaspecific solutions too as they have done in Japan, Germany, US and some European countries. “But all depends on getting the approval on time. We can start from the middle of next year if we get approval in next few months,” he said. How are your products different from the rest? That was a natural questions to ask. Dyson was quick to respond. “There are two differentiating factors. We project the air properly in the room so it cools and purifies the air at the same time. When it cleans the room, it switches off but it keeps sniffing the room. As soon as the air gets dirtier it switches on automatically. That is the big difference,” he said. When asked about the keenness on local sourcing from India, Dyson said there were couple of ways of doing that. “Manufacturing is one way, software and hardware sourcing is another way. So we will study the market in the first or second year before we take a call on it,” he said.
When asked about competition from low-priced similar products, Dyson said competition is present in every market. “We think our products are better engineered and better designed. We are number one in Germany in vacuum cleaners and purification. We are doing well in hair dryers. We are number one in Japan and number two in South Korea. So we are not afraid of competition,” he added.
Will your purifiers work in Indian condition? “You can control air pollution at home. Turn on one of our products that cools the air as well as purifies it. We have smog problem in the UK, too. In Singapore, there is problem arising out of crop burning in adjacent countries. Our products work well in Singapore,” He said emphatically adding his products had several innovations rolled into one. “Our purifier not only cools and heats the air, it purifies as well. It switches off automatically and turn back on as soon as air quality in the room drops,” he said. ‘Welcome to India’ and ‘all the best’ is what we said as we ended the chat.
Coping With Changes
Between the DC30 from 2009 and the more recent V8 series, Dyson's handheld vacuum cleaners have barely changed on the outside, so color us surprised when Sir James whipped out a very different-looking machine today. Dubbed the Cyclone V10, this new vacuum resembles an enlarged conventional hair dryer thanks to its repositioned cyclones and bin -- these are now in line with the head attachment and exhaust. Together, these form a linear airflow path from front to end, which ends up boosting suction power while also reducing noise. The new bin also benefits from a larger capacity, along with a more intuitive dirt eject mechanism: just remove the head, point at a trash can and push the eject button. It's literally just point and shoot. Of course, the star of the show here is really the new V10 digital motor, which boasts eight poles for faster switching, a redesigned impeller for greater airflow efficiency, plus a specially crafted ceramic shaft to reduce weight while still coping with spinning speeds of up to 125,000 rpm -- a bump from the V8's 110,000 rpm but at around half the weight. Combining this powerful core with the redesigned body, the Cyclone V10 is claimed to be lighter yet 20 percent more powerful than the V8. In fact, Sir James went as far as saying that he now has a handheld vacuum with the same performance as its full-size counterpart, such that "it is the reason why I've stopped developing full-size vacuums."
The interesting thing about the V10 motor is that it can adapt to different altitudes, in order to deliver a consistent performance no matter where. Apparently the altitude between different floors in the same household can already affect a vacuum cleaner's performance, let alone living in "a high altitude city like Mexico City and Denver" versus "a low lying city like Amsterdam," according to Dyson.
Another major upgrade here is the battery life. The new 7-cell lithium battery packs more power yet weighs the same as before, and with the low power mode aka "suction mode 1," it can let the Cyclone V10 run for up to a whole hour. If you need more power, you can now switch to either the new medium power mode or the familiar max power mode, but you'll obviously have to sacrifice some battery life there. Another addition on this end is a new battery level indicator on both sides of the battery, along with a filter indicator in case it needs to be replaced or reattached. It's unclear how long it takes to fully recharge a Cyclone V10, but at least this step is a little more convenient now thanks to the new wall cradle: simply slide the vacuum down to plug it in, as opposed to pushing upward first like before.
Dyson sure is keen to get its latest machine in the hands of consumers, so you can already go ahead and buy one in both the US and the UK, with prices starting from about $500 or £400, respectively.
As older patents have expired, competitors have emulated aspects of Dyson’s design aesthetics and the innovative suction technology that have long been its hallmarks. “Dyson has been the front leader for a long time, but the other guys have caught up,” says Charles Gordon, a former industry executive who founded whatvacuum.com. “A massive aspect of the marketplace is that Dyson pioneers and innovates and the others follow.” The risk is that any dilution of Dyson’s selling points could be compounded by regulations that play to its disadvantage.Each of our vacuum reviews include lab-tested ratings for how vacuum cleaners clean on carpet, laminate and hard floors. It has not tested the vacuum when it's empty, but fill it up in stages to see whether suction drops off as the bag or canister becomes full. Vacuum cleaners can be noisy, with decibel readings varying from 70dB (fairly quiet) to 90dB - a true conversation-destroyer.
New product ranges such as hand-dryers, bladeless fans and humidifiers have diversified its sales mix in recent years, while cordless vacuums such as the V6 model accounted for more than half of its revenues in 2014. Overall revenues rose 10 per cent to £1.4bn
Resources are being pumped into the development of battery technology to power its cordless machines, a segment that grew by two-thirds in the UK market last year. “Perhaps most importantly, Dyson has invested in the fastest growing category — robotic vacuum cleaners,” says Filipe Oliveira of Euromonitor. Next year should see the launch of its delayed 360 Eye model, although experts say it is entering the robotic cleaner arena relatively late. Even so, the issue of energy labelling is clearly weighing on the company.
At the heart of Dyson’s grievance is the laboratory testing of vacuums, which the company says does not reflect real-life conditions because the machines are not loaded with dust beforehand.
As bags and filters clog up over time, which Dyson says leads to a loss of suction and drop in cleaning performance, it claims the regime discriminates against bagless ‘cyclonic’ technology such as its own, which separates dirt from air. It also says the environmental and financial cost of replacing bags is not factored in. An EU court rejected Dyson’s legal challenge in November. The company could yet appeal the ruling. John Doherty, of law firm Penningtons Manches, says the company’s approach is novel — and difficult to succeed with. “Seeking to have an instrument of EU law ruled incompetent or lacking in legal basis is a very ambitious goal and, although not unprecedented, very rare,” he says.
Legal challenges: Cases that swept through the courts Dyson has been on both ends of legal action on numerous occasions, mostly to do with the defence of intellectual property. Here are some of its most prominent disputes: 2000 UK High Court rules that Hoover copied a fundamental part of Dyson’s patent on its dual-cyclone cleaner. The UK company later accepts £4m in damages. 2011 Dyson loses a UK court appeal over a “copycat” design case brought against Vax, owned by TTI of Hong Kong. 2012 Dyson accuses Bosch of unlawfully obtaining secret technology relating to a new generation of electric motors through a mole. 2014 Samsung sues Dyson in the South Korea courts, claiming a dropped patent infringement case by the UK company hurt its corporate image. 2014 Bosch wins an injunction in a German court against Dyson for displaying an inaccurate label on one of its vacuum cleaner models. 2015 An EU court rejects Dyson’s challenge to the laboratory testing of vacuum cleaners for the purpose of labelling energy efficiency. 2015 Dyson launches legal action claiming Siemens’ Q8.0 and Bosch’s GL80/ In’Genius Pro Perform models mislead consumers by using more electricity than advertised. A Netherlands court rejects an interim injunction request.