The Decline of iRobot (Roomba)...What Happened?

TL;DR

iRobot collapsed due to Chinese competition, a failed Amazon acquisition, crushing debt, and over-reliance on the Roomba, filing for bankruptcy in December 2025.

Key Points

• 1.iRobot peaked financially between 2020–2021, then collapsed rapidly. Revenue hit all-time highs during the pandemic at $147M profit, but by 2025 revenue fell to ~$500M — less than a third of its 2021 figure — with the company filing bankruptcy in December 2025.
• 2.A failed $1.7B Amazon acquisition triggered the unraveling. Regulators in the US and EU blocked the deal over antitrust concerns; after it collapsed in early 2024, CEO Colin Angle resigned and roughly 50% of the workforce was laid off.
• 3.A $200M loan taken during the acquisition wait became the direct cause of bankruptcy. Unable to repay it, and with new tariffs adding $23M in costs in 2025, iRobot was taken over by Chinese creditor Haier's Piya Robotics.
• 4.Chinese competitors like Roborock and Ecovacs rapidly eroded Roomba's market share. A key iRobot patent expired in 2023, and Chinese government subsidies accelerated rival growth; Roomba's US market share fell to ~42% and is projected to keep declining.
• 5.iRobot failed to diversify beyond the Roomba despite decades of attempts. Products like the Scooba, Braava, Terra lawn mower, and a Swiss air purifier acquisition all flopped, leaving the company fully exposed when vacuum sales declined.