Quarterly report: iRobot experiences economic downturn

Just a few years ago, iRobot was considered a big player in the field of robot vacuum cleaners. In the meantime, however, the company has lost much of its market power. The economic downturn has now reached a sad low point. The US manufacturer’s losses are currently higher than ever before.

IRobot’s US business collapses

Roborock, Dreame, Ecovacs – the robot vacuum sector is undoubtedly dominated by manufacturers from the Far East. But with the success of these companies, iRobot’s revenue is also shrinking at the same time. This may seem confusing at first glance, as the US manufacturer was once regarded as a true shining light in the field of smart household helpers. However, the company has long been unable to keep up with the price-performance ratio of its Chinese competitors in particular. The planned takeover by Amazon was a glimmer of hope for iRobot. However, the online mail order giant pulled out of the planned deal at the last minute.

The economic downturn is underlined by the red figures that the company posted in the fourth quarter of 2023. The quarterly report published on February 26, 2024 makes it clear that there has been a significant decline in sales, particularly in the USA. While turnover in the fourth quarter of 2022 was still USD 1.183 billion, it amounted to just USD 890.6 million one year later. This corresponds to a decline of almost 300 million US dollars. Naturally, this is also accompanied by a decline in profit. This fell from 357.9 million US dollars to 307.5 million US dollars. However, as the simultaneous losses amounted to just under 305 million US dollars, there is not much left of the profits anyway.

Takeover failed due to EU law

However, iRobot cannot blame the poor figures solely on the failures on the domestic market. Things were also really bad for the manufacturer outside of the US market. Now that the financial support of a major tech group has been withdrawn following Amazon’s rejection, the future of the manufacturer is more than questionable. Incidentally, the takeover by no means failed due to Amazon’s will. The online shipping giant would certainly have liked to take over iRobot in view of its own large smart home division.

However, the EU put a spanner in the works. The takeover would have violated EU competition law as it would have put the competition at a disadvantage. The “consolation money” that Amazon paid iRobot because of the failed deal will not help to make up for the failed takeover. The total of 94 million US dollars is likely to be just a drop in the ocean. We are curious to see where the company’s journey will take it. At the moment, however, everything points to the end of the once popular manufacturer.