Roomba maker iRobot has filed for bankruptcy – and customers are worried that their pricey vacuums could stop working.
The 35-year-old, publicly held company will be taken over by its Chinese supplier, Shenzhen Picea Robotics, and become a privately held business, according to the Delaware bankruptcy filing on Sunday.
The Massachusetts-based company — whose robot vacuums cost up to $1,300 — has been struggling since a deal for Amazon to acquire it for $1.7 billion fell apart in 2024.
The company – which was founded by researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology – said it will continue to support the app that controls the robots and that it does not anticipate any disruptions.
The merger will “strengthen our financial position and will help deliver continuity for our consumers, customers, and partners,” said Gary Cohen, chief executive of iRobot.
Nevertheless, fears abounded on social media following the news.
“So what is going to happen to the functionality of mine? It’s one of the smart ones that talk with a server to do its pathing,” according to one Reddit post on Sunday.
Another user speculated, “I bet all of those vacuums are heading to the landfill once the online services shutdown.”
Some 40 million Roombas have been sold worldwide, according to the company’s website.
The disc-shaped devices map out a room to avoid crashing into furniture and walls.
Some premium models can schedule cleanings, take voice commands, wash floors with cleaning fluid and empty the dirt they’ve collected.
IRobot warned earlier this year that a bankruptcy filing was imminent.
Amazon agreed to purchase the company in 2022 but the deal died two years later over regulatory concerns in the US and Europe.
Afterwards, iRobot laid off 350 employees or 30% of its workforce.
Amazon paid the company a $94 million breakup fee.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
