Roomba-maker iRobot Warns of Possible Shutdown Within 12 Months (irobot.com) 61
Roomba maker iRobot has warned it may cease operations within 12 months unless it can refinance debt or find a buyer, just one day after launching a new vacuum cleaner line. In its March 12 quarterly report, the company disclosed it had spent $3.6 million to amend terms on a $200 million Carlyle Group loan from 2023, as U.S. revenue plunged 47% in the fourth quarter.
"Given these uncertainties and the implication they may have on the Company's financials, there is substantial doubt about the Company's ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least 12 months from the date of the issuance of its consolidated 2024 financial statements," the company wrote.
The robot vacuum pioneer has initiated a formal strategic review after a failed Amazon acquisition, the departure of founder Colin Angle, and layoffs affecting over half its workforce. iRobot cited mounting competition from Chinese manufacturers and expects continued losses for "the foreseeable future."
"Given these uncertainties and the implication they may have on the Company's financials, there is substantial doubt about the Company's ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least 12 months from the date of the issuance of its consolidated 2024 financial statements," the company wrote.
The robot vacuum pioneer has initiated a formal strategic review after a failed Amazon acquisition, the departure of founder Colin Angle, and layoffs affecting over half its workforce. iRobot cited mounting competition from Chinese manufacturers and expects continued losses for "the foreseeable future."
Question of today (Score:2)
Will the current robots continue to work after the shutdown or will you just have an expensive brick?
If the robots they have depend on active internet servers then they are on a "No Purchase" list right now.
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They mentioned Chinese competitors. Are Roomba's manufactured in the US? What competitors are they talking about?
Re:Question of today (Score:4, Informative)
Roborock is a good example. Same price you get a Roomba without lidar, you get Roborock with lidar. So vastly superior navigation.
There are several others. They're generally about as good in terms of product niches, but you can get better price for same quality or better quality for the same price.
Amazon mapping your rooms + roomba data via python (Score:2)
- Amazon is getting maps of your home if you have a robot vacuum cleaner
- Science paper linking to a python library to extract data from an irobot vacuum cleaner
https://www.bloomberg.com/news... [bloomberg.com]
https://www.wired.com/story/am... [wired.com]
Wired - Khari Johnson - Aug 5, 2022 6:01 PM
The iRobot Deal Would Give Amazon Maps Inside Millions of Homes
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https://www.sciencedirect.com/... [sciencedirect.com]
2024
DFRWS EU 2024 - Selected Papers from the 11th Annual Digital Forensics Research Conference Europe
So fresh, so clean: Cloud forensic analysis
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You have me confused now. Well, more confused than usual. The story says Amazon didn't buy Roomba after all. I rather thought they had, which is part of why I wasn't interested in a new model. The old Roomba works well enough and doesn't talk to anyone out there...
Usual disclaimer needed? My second and final Amazon purchase was decades ago. Haven't seen anything since then that makes me want to reconsider.
Your home floorspace data is worth something (Score:2)
It used to be a large human cost of connecting consumer metrics to who to target in an advertising campaign.
AI LLM has swapped that cost with dumping a blender full of data metrics into a model and asking
- "Who is most likely to purchase a new dining table?"
- "What are the demographics of this household based on the furniture, floor space, city, postal code, sensor data and level of dirt?"
or
- "What political party does this household belong to based on the floor space and furniture?"
Re:Question of today (Score:5, Informative)
Will the current robots continue to work after the shutdown or will you just have an expensive brick?
If the robots they have depend on active internet servers then they are on a "No Purchase" list right now.
From a quick search, not exactly:
No, a Roomba does not need Wi-Fi to function; you can operate it with basic cleaning functions like "Clean" and "Dock" without connecting it to your network, but connecting to Wi-Fi allows you to access advanced features like scheduling cleaning times, adjusting suction power, and monitoring cleaning patterns through the iRobot HOME app.
Key points about Roomba and Wi-Fi:
Based on this, for me the Roomba just went on the "do not purchase" list, because things like scheduled cleaning are important.
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Nothing about what you posted means that one must have internet access in order to keep using the Roomba, even the scheduling functions.
FWIW, I have no clue whether or not the iRobot HOME app requires internet access to function, nor do I know if it communicates directly with the Roomba over the local network or if it goes through a relay on the internet, but requiring the app and wifi access to do scheduling doesn't mean it does.
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When AWS is down Roomba app no workie. It definitely needs the servers.
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So, if they were smart, iRobot would put the server code in a trust or whatever the proper word is, with a deal that they'd open source the code in the event they go under. Or make a deal that the services will remain available for a certain number of years after the company goes bust. Thus reducing the perceived risk to the consumer of buying now. The last thing they need to do is give us an additional reason not to purchase their products, which could result in a self-fulfilled prophecy.
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... which will still brick the devices unless someone buys the relevant domain names that existing devices are hard coded to connect to.
They don't have the money to last 12 months, how are they going to fund a trust that will continue their operations for many more years? Where are those millions going to come from, to be locked in a trust "just in case"?
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I am not a lawyer. But a relative just recently put a property in trust and I had to sign off on it. The cost was minimal; mostly lawyers' fees.
Your mileage may vary of course, but I think that if all you're putting into the trust is the source and documentations (and maybe the domain names) it wouldn't be that expensive. Certainly not millions.
If keeping the service going after they go bust isn't possible, perhaps open sourcing the code would be. Someone else mentioned that there are probably hard code
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The cost of a trust isn't that much, but it would need funds to continue to operate the service for "years" as you put it.
Back end server infrastructure isn't cheap. It requires power, space, maintenance and people to keep it running.
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"If" the vacuumes were Matter certified, this would be a non issue as scheduling and other functions are handled locally, no cloud connection required. I have a feeling they aren't Matter certified though.
Interesting question. Actually, the newer models are matter certified, and work with HomePod (and probably everything else).
But, if the company is planning on going out of business in 12 months, I'd not buy anything from them.
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People buying any device that requires an internet service to operate should not do so unless the company commits to releasing the full server side source code (and authentication certs if applicable) such that a user community can maintain it. At minimum the client side needs to be easily user modifiable.
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People buying any device that requires an internet service to operate should not do so.
FTFY
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So what you are actually saying is people should stop buying devices. Period.
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If they can't include what is needed to work (space, power, etc), they should either use OPEN API and customization of what service we want to use or a local appliance + open software or at very least, open API (that can be replaced by a rpi + the open software, for those that have tech skills and want to save the money)
IoT is awful because there are no rules about how they must work, each one create their own island that totally disappear if the company goes down.
for IoT to work, we need OPEN standards a
Re:Question of today (Score:4, Interesting)
Most of the current Robots do support a local connection so they would continue to operate without an active server as long as they've been setup already, but I think if you got a new one or had to reconnect it you might run into issues.
I've bought a few robot vacuums over the years but my latest one was one compatible with valetudo [valetudo.cloud] which is a server you can run locally.
Re: (Score:1)
See these project and more to keep using it:
- https://pypi.org/project/pyroombaadapter/
- https://github.com/koalazak/rest980
- https://github.com/koalazak/dorita980
Re: (Score:3)
Cats across the country will be in mourning.
Meme (Score:4, Insightful)
There's a photo going around of an iRobot store in a shopping mall with a wall of floor cleaners and a young woman in front of said wall with a dust mop cleaning the floor.
iRobot is paying rent in umpteen shopping malls and can't compete with Chinese vendors putting their money into manufacturing and R&D?
I guess I'd need an MBA to figure this one out.
"90% of innovation happens on the shop floor".
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young woman in front of said wall with a dust mop cleaning the floor
I love the irony, but it's probably a "keep-em-busy" activity for employees rather than something of any practical value for the store, regardless, you don't want a shopper stepping on or tripping over a Roomba. Broken ankles and smashed hips are kind of bad for business.
Re:Meme (Score:4, Interesting)
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If the Chinese vendors requires internet connection then they'll have the ability to map your apartment/store/agency using that device.
So if you care about a third party getting knowledge about how your premises are set up you should probably be a bit concerned - and don't rule out that the device also have microphones to listen in on conversations.
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I think that information is already on sale from Samsung, TCL, LG, Google, Apple etc...
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Why would I give a crap if the Chinese know the shape of my kitchen?
What possible problem would that create? And why would they not be able to get that from Zillow or any other real estate site that has actual pictures of the place from the MLS listing?
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It depends on what you are working with.
If you are working with sensitive projects then every detail about you is useful. Including which your favourite takeout is.
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How is that a problem -for me-. Sounds like a problem for my employer, or maybe even my government. But for me? No. Even in knowing where I go to lunch so you can scrape my badge to gain entry to the facility is not my problem. It's not my facility, you see.
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The problem is not China. The problem is that we allow anyone to do this in the first place. I am not concerned at all if a foreign oligarch attempts a behavior modification project on me using a map of my house, when domestic oligarchs are doing it literally all day, every day, every day, with every piece of data I generate, including this stupid slashdot reply.
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There's a photo going around of an iRobot store in a shopping mall with a wall of floor cleaners and a young woman in front of said wall with a dust mop cleaning the floor.
If you trip over a Roomba while it's cleaning the shopping mall floor, sue the mall. If you trip over a young woman with a mop, sue your optometrist.
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There's a photo going around of an iRobot store in a shopping mall with a wall of floor cleaners and a young woman in front of said wall with a dust mop cleaning the floor.
iRobot is paying rent in umpteen shopping malls and can't compete with Chinese vendors putting their money into manufacturing and R&D?
I guess I'd need an MBA to figure this one out.
"90% of innovation happens on the shop floor".
iRobot doesn't have any stores, at least not in the USA. Maybe not anywhere. They do partner with a lot of resellers. The photo is either fake or it's a dedicated iRobot section of another store that happens to sell them.
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It's probably for safety reasons. If a customer tripped over a robot vacuum cleaner there would be a lawsuit. Much less likely to happen with a human and a broom.
Some of the shops in Japan have them in a little playpen. They put a few different manufacturer's robots in there and let them have a battle royale. I'm not joking.
Ok, I'll bite (Score:3)
FTS: "...just one day after launching a new vacuum cleaner line."
How in Hell do they not know their financial health (or lack thereof I suppose) prior to deciding to launch a new product?
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Their job is to make money to hopefully prevent their demise, not cushion the blow to the customers if they do go out of business.
Releasing new products is a way to hopefully make that money.
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Certainly, but it takes money to make money (and new products) no? So are they doing a last-ditch "hail mary" in which case the company seems poorly run (aka HP) or were they really blindsided by this, in which case the inter-company communication is really bad.
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And what, you think the year+, likely several years, of R&D that went into the new product is magically going to not count negatively towards their money they have now?
If you sink millions into R&D for a few years before you realize you are starting to run low on money, you want to SELL the fruits of that expenditure to make that money back. Not just throw your hands up and exclaim you are low on money, all while throwing away the millions you spent on... nothing, if you don't bring that R&D to
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They probably spent years developing the product.
Should they throw all that investment away because they have some bad news to disclose?
They don't really get to choose when they make these financial announcements
PackBot (Score:3)
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I was wondering how FLIR was managing to survive, and I figured it was probably military and government contracts. Their thermal tech used to cutting edge but has fallen behind lately, at least in the consumer and professional spaces.
Literally built to get help from Trump ... (Score:4, Funny)
Like he "bought" a Tesla (below) to help Elon, will Trump buy a Roomba -- you know, if they suck up to him enough. :-)
President Trump buys a Tesla in support of 'Elon's baby' [sky.com]
(Noting that Elon also just promised Trump $100M *more* for his PACs ...)
Maybe if they built a robot that works!!! (Score:2)
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Can not do stairs (Score:2)
I have a 10+ year old roomba. (Score:2)
I have a 10+ year old roomba, dumb as a fencepost.
I don't use it much. My house is little, so a broom, a dustpan, a foxtail, a bucket and a mop takes care of it rather quickly.
The roomba just.. gathers dust in its little corner.
I won't miss iRobot. Shoulda never bought that Roomba either -- it was an ill-thought-out impulse purchase.
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Lunch (Score:2)
China ate their lunch. Why? Because their products were grossly overpriced.
Thanks, regulators (Score:2)
Amazon buying out iRobot would have saved the company, but the FTC and EU regulatory reviews caused the deal to be dragged out for years, until Amazon gave up and walked away. What was the point of such an extensive review of a trillion dollar company buying a $1.4B vacuum company? Year after year, iRobot was losing market share to competitors. Amazon didn't have a line of robovacs, so the deal wasn't a form of consolidation. The UK regulator approved the deal based on these findings.
Allegedly, the FTC had
Thank you regulators. (Score:3)
All the patents in the world won't save you (Score:2)
Having once spent two days scouring the USPTO website for patents covering autonomous robots, I can tell you that iRobot has a shit ton of them. Patents only help you when everyone plays by the same set of rules. China doesn't give a shit about western rules. (It's part of the reason that Musk doesn't bother) They spent too much capital on trying to build a legal moat when they should have been trying to invent new stuff.
Oh no! (Score:2)
People with perfectly flat homes will sure be in a pickle.
Oh, wait... there may be an answer. [walmart.ca]
I mean, you still have to spend some money... but at least your floor will be tended to.