Which Chinese company will take over iRobot, the US corporation behind Roomba?
After years of crisis and a failed deal with Amazon, the home robotics pioneer filed for bankruptcy and will be taken over by Chinese giant PICEA.
iRobot vacuum cleaners on display in 2015.
iRobot Corp., the pioneering home robotics firm, has officially filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11. Known worldwide for its iconic Roomba robot vacuum cleaner, the U.S. tech will be taken over by China's PICEA, its main manufacturing partner, after years of financial and regulatory difficulties.
Founded in 1990 by three researchers at MIT's Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, iRobot transformed household cleaning. The company rose to international fame in the 2000s with the launch of the Roomba model, setting the standard for consumer robotics.
However, after the pandemic boom, the company began to experience severe economic turbulence. According to industry analysts, the determining factors were global supply chain problems and aggressive low-cost competition, mainly from Chinese manufacturers.
PICEA Robotics: iRobot's new owner
The U.S. company will now be integrated into Shenzhen PICEA Robotics Co., according to the plan revealed on Sunday. Founded in 2016, the Chinese firm defines itself as a "leading provider of robot vacuums" and was already in charge of manufacturing iRobot's devices.
Both companies claim that PICEA has robust credentials in the home technology sector:
- It has 30% of the global market for high-end robot vacuum cleaners.
- It has marketed more than 20 million robotic units.
- It has a workforce of 7,000 employees in facilities spread between China and Vietnam.
- It manages a portfolio of more than 1,300 intellectual property rights.
The acquisition will be made through a process overseen by the bankruptcy court. As a direct result, iRobot will no longer be listed on the Nasdaq and will become a private entity, 100% owned by the Asian giant.
What will happen to the Roomba?
Regarding the operation of current equipment, it was confirmed that there will be no disruptions in the application and that customer and partner programs will remain unchanged.
Experts say the devices already installed in homes will continue to perform their cleaning cycles seamlessly.
Gary Cohen, CEO of iRobot, said, "by combining iRobot's innovation, consumer-driven design, and R&D with Picea's history of innovation, manufacturing, and technical expertise, we believe iRobot will be well equipped to shape the next era of smart home robotics."
The Amazon deal failure
The U.S. company had signaled it might enter bankruptcy early this month when an investment firm sold a loan it had made to it, according to a report from Bloomberg.
The more than $190 million in debt was acquired by Santrum, a subsidiary of PICEA that will also be part of the deal announced in the last few hours.
The path to bankruptcy accelerated after the failure of the purchase by Amazon. In January, the e-commerce giant canceled plans to acquire iRobot for $1.7 billion due to pressure from the European Commission, which feared reduced competition in the European Union market.
That rejection triggered, at the opening of the same day, a 15% drop in iRobot's shares on Wall Street. Finally, the company's debt of more than $190 million was acquired by Santrum, a subsidiary of PICEA, sealing the fate of the brand that invented the autonomous vacuum cleaner.
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