iRobot, the creator of Roomba, filed for bankruptcy on Sunday. If Amazon had been allowed to acquire the company in 2022, consumers likely would have enjoyed improved quality and lower prices. Now, thanks to antitrust regulators, iRobot will be acquired by a massive Chinese robot vacuum manufacturer, Shenzhen Picea Robotics, instead of American-owned Amazon.
iRobot was founded in 1990 by three roboticists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. After designing robots for space exploration and military use, the company released its first consumer product in 2002: the Roomba floor-vacuuming robot. By 2021, the year its stock value reached its maximum of over $133 per share, iRobot had sold over 40 million household robots. The company's value more than halved by the time Amazon offered to purchase it for $61 per share in August 2022.
