South Korean media: iRobot is to be sold to a Chinese company, the fall of the "pioneer of robot vacuum cleaners"!
On December 17, South Korean media Asia Economic published an article stating that the US company iRobot, known for the Roomba robot vacuum cleaner, applied for bankruptcy protection on the 14th local time due to financial difficulties. It is expected that iRobot will be sold to the Chinese company Shangchuan Robotics, which currently produces iRobot's products through contract manufacturing.
iRobot announced that it has signed a Reorganization Support Agreement (RSA), according to which the Chinese Shangchuan Robotics Company will complete the acquisition of iRobot under court supervision. The company explained, "According to this reorganization support agreement, Shangchuan Robotics Company will acquire 100% of iRobot's shares. This will reduce iRobot's debt, allowing it to continue normal operations and maintain its global business base."
iRobot's CEO Gary Cohen said, "This transaction will help enhance our financial strength and provide continuous service to our customers and partners."
iRobot was founded by engineers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and achieved success with the Roomba robot vacuum cleaner launched in 2002. Its household robot sales have exceeded 40 million units, with sales of about $682 million in 2024. However, according to Reuters, the emergence of low-cost Chinese competitors such as Ecovacs has dealt a heavy blow to the company, significantly weakening its profitability.
In 2022, Amazon had agreed to acquire iRobot for $1.4 billion, but the deal fell through because the European Union's competition regulators blocked it on the grounds of restricting competition. Since then, iRobot has been trying hard to find a suitable buyer.
According to its bankruptcy filing, iRobot still maintains a strong position in major markets such as the United States and Japan, but increasing competition has forced it to continuously invest heavily to lower prices and upgrade technology. The company holds a 42% share in the US robot vacuum cleaner market and a 65% share in the Japanese market.
This means that the top five companies in the global robot vacuum cleaner market are expected to all be Chinese companies. A report released by market research company IDC in March showed that the top five companies in global robot vacuum cleaner market share last year were Roborock (16.0%), iRobot (13.7%), Ecovacs (13.5%), Xiaomi (9.7%) and Dyson (8.0%). Apart from iRobot, the other four companies are all Chinese companies.
Original: toutiao.com/article/1851717831240714/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author alone.