iRobot Is in Trouble, but Roomba Is Already Dead

An iRobot Roomba robot vaccum, shown on top of a rug.

I visited iRobot’s headquarters outside of Boston a handful of times in the 2010s, back when its status as the world’s preeminent consumer-robotics company seemed untouchable.

The lobby had a display case filled with the groundbreaking robots that its engineers had brought to life. Of course, the collection included a handful of Roombas, the puck-shaped vacuum cleaners that were arguably the defining robots of the early 21st century, along with other bots built for household upkeep, such as gutter cleaners, pool trawlers, and mops.

Also displayed were robots used for bomb disposal in Iraq and Afghanistan and for search-and-rescue missions at Fukushima and after 9/11, plus early versions of a space rover that eventually made it to Mars.

Today, iRobot’s roster is down to just the Roomba, and judging from a recent SEC filing, the company might not survive through the end of the year.



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