Your Roomba could soon be a worthless brick. iRobot’s stock fell as much as 40% early Wednesday after the maker of robot vacuums told investors that it has “substantial doubt about the company’s ability to continue.” Sales were down 44% in the last three months of 2024 at $172 million versus $307 million the year prior, though the company hopes a slew of new Roombas introduced this week will help stem the decline. Even there, iRobot could be impacted by President Trump’s trade war.
Roomba is synonymous with robot vacuums, having first introduced the product back in 2002. But today, the market is saturated with comparable products from companies like Roborock, Shark, and Xiaomi, which make similar robot vacuums at prices often undercutting iRobot. The company was slow to release a combination mop and vacuum robot, and customers often complain that the Roomba’s vSLAM mapping and detection technology is not as good as laser-based alternatives.
Newer models do have some nice features, like an option to program them to sweep only specific areas of the home, like the kitchen. Of course, however, Roombas still cannot ascend stairs. Robot vacuums are more of a want, not a need—and, frankly, vacuuming yourself can be therapeutic. 23 years after its introduction, the Roomba still gets stuck, or runs over poop and smears it across the floor. The dream of combining robotics with useful AI in the household has always been just off in the distance, almost perfect but not quite.
According to CNN, iRobot has launched a “strategic review of alternatives for the business” that could ultimately result to a sale or refinancing of its debts. Perhaps Amazon can step up and try to acquire the company again after its previous attempt was scuttled by European regulators over concerns that Amazon would prioritize iRobot in its marketplace. President Trump has shown himself willing to go to bat for leaders of industry that have supported him, yesterday running an advertising campaign for Tesla at the White House. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who quickly fell in line with the president, could call in a favor.
Amazon probably does not want iRobot anymore, however. The robotics company’s stock is down 90% from its highs only a few years ago, and the acquisition offer was made in 2022 before the downturn that led to mass layoffs and austerity measures. Amazon has invested heavily in robotics in warehouses to drive down costs, however, where there could be some synergies in shared mapping technology. And it is renewing its push in the home by upgrading Alexa with generative AI. The hope has always been that owners of Echo speakers would use them for everything, including ordering home goods from Amazon. That never panned out, but maybe the new Alexa will turn things around. There is some angle where it could make sense to try and acquire iRobot again as part of some broader strategy.
