Roomba robot vacuum cleaners made by iRobot are displayed on a shelf at a Target store in California.
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Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
The American company that installed robot vacuum cleaners in American homes has gone off the rails.
The maker of the Roomba, called iRobot, filed for bankruptcy about two years after its failed merger with Amazon. The company has struggled to keep pace with foreign competitors, due to its heavy debt and new costs from tariffs. The company is now being bought by its main manufacturer based in China, assuring owners that its devices will continue to work as usual.
Most Roombas are made in Vietnam, so the company has faced new import fees under President Trump’s trade regime. In its bankruptcy filing, the company says it owes U.S. Customs and Border Protection $3.4 million in unpaid customs duties. iRobot also owes nearly $100 million to the vendor that took over the company, called Shenzhen Picea Robotics.
MIT researchers founded it
Founded in 1990 by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, iRobot first made devices that helped the U.S. military, excavated the Great Pyramid of Giza and tracked an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Then he introduced American homeowners to devices that could clean their floors and pools, including the popular Roomba.
But in recent years, iRobot has struggled financially. Smart vacuum cleaners from foreign competitors, especially Chinese ones, were often offered at cheaper prices.
Amazon’s bid to buy iRobot for $1.4 billion collapsed last year under scrutiny from European and U.S. competition regulators. iRobot was left with a $200 million loan it had taken out to survive while the merger was under review.
All year the company lost money. During the most recent quarter, iRobot reported a 33% revenue decline in the United States. In March, it began warning of possible bankruptcy, citing concerns about consumer demand, competitors and pricing.
As part of the bankruptcy plan, iRobot will go private to become part of Picea. The Chinese company makes competing home appliances under its own 3i brand and lists other brands on its website such as Shark and Anker, which make Eufy vacuum cleaners.
