Amazon agrees to buy iRobot, putting robot vacuum makers on alert
Big Tech has been able to achieve and maintain its massive scale byacquiring businesses and their expertise of certain marketsand then funding its way to competitiveness. Of late, Amazon has been focused on capturing as much of the smart home market aslegallypossible. It boughtsmart security camera maker Blinkand video doorbell company Ringovideo doorbell company Ringin 2017, got into thewireless mesh networking business with Eeroin 2019, and has constantly been producing new appliances under its umbrella of brands while undercutting on price. Continuing on this trajectory, Amazon has confirmed that it is buying iRobot, maker of the widely popular Roomba automated vacuum.
The deal is worth $61 per share, with the overall value touching $1.7 billion as part of an all-cash transaction, according to a sharedpress release. iRobot’s net debt is also included in the value. While the company has announced the buyout, it still has to receive approval from iRobot’s shareholders as well as regulators. One of iRobot’s co-founders and longtime CEO, Colin Angle, will continue in his position after the acquisition.
Angle expressed optimism about the new development, though it’s currently unclear if the development of iRobot OS — the proprietary operating system of Roomba which was unveiled this May — will continue unabated. But considering that the CEO is staying on, it seems like most of iRobot’s operations will carry on as before.
Amazon Robotics was set up after the acquisition of robotics company Kiva Systems in 2012. However, its operations are currently limited to the use of robots across Amazon’s fulfillment centers and warehouses. By contrast, the iRobot buyout could be more prominent to consumers, based on Amazon’s ambitions to take center stage inpeople’s living roomsfor years to come.
The closest thing to a Roomba that Amazon has put out may arguably be last year’s Astro home monitoring robot. While it doesn’t suck up dirt or wash your carpet for you, the navigation aspects have been reported to befar from perfect. It’s safe to say that Amazon has a lot to gain from the iRobot acquisition.
If the deal closes, existing robot vacuum makers may find it hard to go up against Amazon which has been able to adopt cutthroat price and stocking strategies to get its name into a new market. Those practices have driven some vendors out of other markets where Amazon has been successful.
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