Amazon Ends iRobot Acquisition Saga

🤖 Robot startup crash? iRobot terminates deal with Amazon, laying off 31% of staff

Hey Everyone,

There has been a lot of exciting news in robotics this week. But something I keep coming back to is the blocked acquisition of Amazon of iRobot.

The Amazon-iRobot deal was originally valued at $1.7 billion, but a number of regulatory examination blocked the deal. Since the decision to scrap the deal, iRobot’s stock IRBT 0.00%↑ is down 63% so far this year with layoffs of over 30% of their employees.

Amazon might have used its marketplace dominance for anticompetitive purposes regulators in Europe argued. The Roomba maker also announced it would lay off 31% of its employees, around 350 people, and that its chair and CEO, Colin Angle, would step down effective immediately.

The reality is Chinese robot vacuums are taking market share away from companies like iRobot. It’s also a use case of how good Chinese consumer robots are going to get relative to other countries. Even as exports plunge and foreign investments leave China at a pace not seen in many generations. Will the best EVs and robots win, even if they are made in China?