iRobot, a US company famous for its sweeping robot “Roomba”, has continued to suffer from sluggish performance. The company said on March 12 that it has become difficult to continue its business. The reason behind this is the rise of Chinese companies. iRobot had hoped to sell its business to Amazon in the United States to seek a breakthrough, but it was not approved, and the road to recovery is not yet clear.
In the financial report data for October to December 2024 released on the 12th, iRobot wrote in the form of “additional information”: “Whether the premise of the company’s continued operation (going concern) can be maintained for at least 12 months, there are major doubts.”
It is reported that the company’s board of directors has begun to evaluate various options such as debt restructuring and sale. The financial report briefing originally scheduled for the 12th has been cancelled.
Affected by the warning about the risk of corporate continued operation, iRobot’s stock price in the US stock market on the 12th once plummeted by more than 40% from the previous day’s closing price, and finally closed down 36%. According to Bloomberg, this is iRobot’s largest single-day drop since its listing in 2005.
iRobot was originally engaged in the research and development of products such as mine-clearing robots, and launched the Roomba sweeping robot in 2002, which promoted the popularity of household sweeping robots. However, with the increasingly fierce price competition from Chinese companies, iRobot’s market share has declined and its performance has continued to deteriorate.
Amazon announced plans in 2022 to acquire iRobot for approximately US$1.7 billion, including debt, but failed to obtain approval from competition regulators such as the European Union (EU), and finally abandoned the acquisition in January 2024.
Amazon’s acquisition proposal has a strong rescue nature, and is also aimed at strengthening the linkage with Amazon’s voice assistant “Alexa” and promoting the advancement of robotics technology.
As the plan to sell to Amazon fell through, Colin Angle, one of iRobot’s co-founders, chairman and CEO (CEO), announced his resignation. The company has also taken measures to streamline operations, such as cutting more than half of its employees.
Although iRobot released eight new products on the 11th, it pointed out in its financial report on the 12th that the success of new products cannot be guaranteed due to factors such as consumer demand, competitive environment, macroeconomic conditions and tariff policies. The company did not release its performance forecast for 2025.
iRobot’s October-December 2024 financial report released on the 12th showed that the company’s sales fell 44% year-on-year to US$172.03 million, and the final loss was US$77.1 million (the loss in the same period last year was US$63.59 million). By region, sales fell 47% in the United States, 34% in Japan, and 44% in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
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