Posted on 12/14/2025 6:24:04 PM PST by nickcarraway
Roomba vacuum cleaner maker iRobot said on Sunday that it had filed for bankruptcy protection, and would go private after being acquired by Picea, its primary manufacturer.
The company, which raised concerns about staying in business in March, filed for bankruptcy in the District of Delaware as it grapples with macroeconomic and tariff-related uncertainties.
iRobot faces competition from Chinese rivals such as Ecovacs Robotics, which offer advanced features at lower prices.
(Excerpt) Read more at channelnewsasia.com ...
And they imply that Trump's tariffs killed them?? That was fast.
So much easier to achieve when you have slave labour.
IRBT symbol....jeez
If only they’d marketed it as a cat toy, they wouldn’t be in this pickle!
If the tariffs killed them, wouldn't the tariffs affect their Chinese rivals the same?
Trump spelled their doomba. LOL.
With the increase of robotic household appliances and the coming humanoid robots, there will be no shortage of cat videos on YouTube.
Not enough Cats buying them ?LOL
Doesn't surprise me. Maybe one could keep a gymnasium clean, but ours just gets hung up under furniture, routinely. Useless.
You have to whip it to teach it.
This company was killed by Lina Khan, the Marxist FTC head under Biden, who blocked Amazon’s purchase of iRobot which she said would “harm consumers.” So now an American company is dead and consumers have nothing to buy but Chinese robot vacs, nearly all made in the same district on Shenzen.Thanks Lina!
They should have added a heated top for warming cat butts...
Yes and what is left of Roomba is being given to their largest creditor, which happens to be a Chinese firm that did most of the manufacturing for them. So because Biden’s FTC blocked their sale to Amazon it now goes to our enemies in China.
But, but, I thought tariffs were good for American companies! Next you’ll be telling me American manufacturing relies on parts made abroad. Or even that tariffs make inflation worse. /s
LOL!
I suppose they can’t just sweep their debts under a rug...
They were/are always quite a bit more expensive than rivals and usually have less features and lower quality from the reviews I’ve seen. This has been a long time coming for them.
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