Shenzhen-based Picea Robotics, its lender and primary supplier, will acquire all of iRobot’s shares.
time for one final, multi million dollar bonus for the CEO that brought it there
Roomba maker iRobot swept into bankruptcy
Submitted 17 hours ago by avidamoeba@lemmy.ca to technology@lemmy.world
https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2025/12/roomba-maker-irobot-swept-into-bankruptcy/
Comments
Jhex@lemmy.world 9 hours ago
avidamoeba@lemmy.ca 17 hours ago
Yet another example that the firms that actually make the things are the ones that matter in the long run.
Apparently Picea makes Roomba, Shark, Anker (Eufy). Maybe also some Dyson.
NaibofTabr@infosec.pub 17 hours ago
Hmm… counterpoint: Arm Holdings
cleverusernametry@lemmy.world 2 hours ago
They’ll be gone as well once RISCV is more pervasive. Companies that sit on their IP and charge licensing fees deserve to die.
avidamoeba@lemmy.ca 17 hours ago
There are counterexamples for sure but there are whole indistries that fell over to this pattern. E.g. TVs.
iopq@lemmy.world 15 hours ago
Ever heard of a little known design shop called Nvidia that outsources production of to other
MDCCCLV@lemmy.ca 1 hour ago
Fabs are an exception and a bad comparison.
witty_username@feddit.nl 13 hours ago
Isn’t the real problem here that many companies aim to be bought out as a strategy? They focus on growth to secure a sizeable market share. They often do this without regard for sustaining the business. Equity holders like this because market share inflates company value and selling the company will yield even more money. The downside is though, that at some point, the company can no longer sustain this and must be bought out.
I don’t think irobot really needed to go this route or that they weren’t competitive any longer. They chose to go for market share and big bucks rather than a long term strategy.
This is why we need more cooperatives. They are better at long term planning, make better products and don’t fall prey to predatory value extractionAwesomeLowlander@sh.itjust.works 2 hours ago
What market share? The article is very explicit that irobot went broke due to competition.
MDCCCLV@lemmy.ca 1 hour ago
I think the part where if they had limited their debt and controlled their costs they should still be selling enough to stay open. The other products are better but they still don’t have the brand recognition.
cleverusernametry@lemmy.world 2 hours ago
Wtf does that have to do here?
HurricaneLiz@lemmy.world 6 hours ago
My partner’s 5 yr old is obsessed with Roombas. If he were old enough to read this news, he’d cry 😢
Rooster326@programming.dev 1 hour ago
Isn’t Roomba just synonymous with robot vacuum at this point?
All of my friends and family have a “Roomba”. Some have the $30 Aldi’s Roomba that stumbled around like your drunk uncle, and some have the Roomba with a microphone that chases your dog for the Insta.
Absolutely none of us are rich enough to buy the equivalent Roomba.
Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 20 minutes ago
Hey! Whoa! Uncool!
Drunk uncle here…I don’t stumble. I sit on the recliner until I pass out watching porn that I’m not aroused by, and not jerking off to. It’s just “on”.
Fredselfish@lemmy.world 17 hours ago
Great now everyone who has one will suddenly become bricked.
avidamoeba@lemmy.ca 17 hours ago
Unlikely. Their ODM bought them. Our home maps would however become part of their property.
kbobabob@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 hours ago
You don’t think the data isn’t for sale and anyone with a check couldn’t acquire the data?
Brewchin@lemmy.world 11 hours ago
I’ve had a dumb Roomba (560? 650?) for years. The worst they can do is stop making replacement batteries and brushes available, and there’s plenty of third-party alternatives.
Who buys a smart device when a dumb one is available and does the job just as well. 🤷♂️
dmtalon@infosec.pub 6 hours ago
Ya, hard disagree here, while 100% the new features could have been kept in device, vs cloud but the difference between our (770?) that just bounces around until it runs out of battery (and gets stuck in the SAME place Everytime it hits that spot vs. the newer one vacuums the whole floor and can be told to avoid the problematic area(s) is pretty huge.
Now, the new one has a host of its own issues but when it works it’s a much better product that produces much better results.
All that said I think the software has gone to crap over the years and the newer (i7) actually is less reliable than it was the first 6-8 months we owned it.
ExcessShiv@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 hours ago
I’ve had a dumb roomba for years too, and I was decently happy with it, but i switched to a new roborock this year…and holy shit, the roomba sucks ass compared to the roborock. It absolutely does not do the job as well, comparatively it hardly does a job at all.
fruitycoder@sh.itjust.works 11 hours ago
Hopefully work on opensource firmware getting going like github.com/koalazak/dorita980. Seems more movement in the server side though github.com/ia74/roomba_rest980
Another option is hardware hacking it github.com/meech-ward/roomba/tree/main
Tbh the amount of cameras and microphones we have that upload to external unaudited servers (“the cloud”) is insane to me. This is just further worry about it since the scheme allowed their ownership over our devices and privacy, which means they can also sell that.
TranquilTurbulence@lemmy.zip 9 hours ago
All they have to do is to stop maintaining the mobile app that controls the robot. Sure, you can still start it manually, but it won’t do anything smart.
Yankee_Self_Loader@lemmy.world 9 hours ago
“This is what happens when companies don’t integrate AI quickly enough.” -other ceos probably