Crack of iRobot: Chinese dominance conquers robot hoover market
The famous brand that produces Roomba files for Chapter 11. Could not withstand competition from Asian competitors such as Narwal, Dreame and Roborock
iRobot has filed for bankruptcy. And it is not just market news. Rather, it is the symbolic end of an era. Because for those who lived through the early 2000s, Roomba was not simply a robot hoover. It was the robot hoover. The first true mass-produced domestic robot, the one that went into your home, ran around on its own, banged against the walls and made you think that the future was already there, under the sofa.
iRobot, founded in 1990 by MIT engineers, had done something very few can do: turn a complex technology into a popular object. Over 40 million robots sold worldwide. A name that has become synonymous with the category. Today, that name is changing hands. And it passes to China.
Shares reset
The American company filed for Chapter 11 in the US and accepted a plan to transfer control to its main Chinese supplier, Shenzhen PICEA Robotics. The shares - which, in the meantime, have clearly plummeted - will be reduced to zero. The stock, for those who owned it, will no longer be worth anything. Formally, the company will continue to operate, pay employees and suppliers, and remain 'going concern'. Substantially, however, it is an exit.
An exit from the scene that is somewhat the classic parable of the great American tech icons that do not withstand the second half of globalisation. After the initial boom, iRobot's accounts started to deteriorate post-Covid: fragile supply chains, rising costs, weaker demand. But above all one decisive factor: Chinese competition.
In recent years, the robot hoover market has been taken over by brands such as Roborock, Narwal and Dreame. Not improvised start-ups, but companies with enormous industrial capacity, vertical integration, very fast innovation cycles and aggressive pricing. While Roomba remained tied to an idea of 'historic' premium, the Chinese competitors pushed on to increasingly sophisticated mapping, floor washing, automatic docking stations, artificial intelligence really applied to everyday use. Excellent performance, lower costs.
