iRobot, the company which invented robot vacuum cleaners, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy some 23 years after it first launched the Roomba range.
While such company failures can often be extremely bad news for owners of smart home technology, there is reason for optimism in this case …
iRobot has filed for bankruptcy
iRobot announced the Chapter 11 yesterday.
iRobot and certain of its affiliates voluntarily commenced a pre-packaged chapter 11 process in the District of Delaware (the “Court”). The Company expects to complete the pre-packaged chapter 11 process by February 2026.
It’s a sad development in the long history of the company which first invented the category, and which launched its first Roomba cleaner way back in 2002. Since then, however, growing competition in the field has left the company struggling.
Amazon had hoped to buy iRobot but was forced to withdraw on antitrust grounds. Regulators argued that the e-commerce giant had enough power to place competitor companies at a significant disadvantage.
Usually, this would be bad news for customers
Often when a smart home company goes bust, that can have significant consequences for customers. We’ve seen multiple examples of smart products being either completely bricked or turned into dumb ones by the loss of servers.
The most recent example was the closure of Neato, which saw its own robot vacuum cleaners turned into dumb products just over a month ago.
But there is good news for Roomba owners
However, in this case iRobot says it plans to hand over the business to its primary manufacturer, Shenzhen PICEA Robotics, and that that devices and apps will continue to work normally while this happens.
During the chapter 11 process, iRobot will continue operating in the ordinary course with no anticipated disruption to its app functionality, customer programs, global partners, supply chain relationships, or ongoing product support […]
Following Court approval of the transaction, iRobot expects to be better positioned to execute on its long-term innovation strategy under Picea’s ownership.
Subject to a judge approving the proposal, the expectation is that everything will continue as before. Existing products will retain full functionality and receive ongoing support, and new products will be launched.
Investors will receive nothing, and it’s as yet unknown how employees will be affected.
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Photo: iRobot
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