If there is a single, defining insight that iRobot’s co-founder and longtime chief executive, Colin Angle, drew from the company’s fall into bankruptcy, it is the sobering lesson that no enterprise—no matter how inventive or dominant—should ever underestimate the strength and agility of its competitors. On December 14, the once-celebrated maker of the Roomba robotic vacuum, a household name that effectively birthed the consumer robotics market, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. In a striking development that marked the end of an era, iRobot will be acquired by its principal contract manufacturer, Picea Robotics, a Chinese firm with which it had long partnered on production.
Reflecting on this turning point, Angle explained that as iRobot embarks on its next chapter, he remains acutely aware that even the most established market leaders must maintain vigilance in the face of relentless global competition—particularly from the rising wave of Chinese technology firms. In a candid conversation on the technology podcast “Hard Fork,” Angle spoke about a new class of rivals he termed the “Chinese fast followers”: companies that are remarkably adept at rapidly replicating and refining innovations, leveraging both state support and privileged access to China’s vast domestic market—a market iRobot, due to regulatory and logistical barriers, was never truly able to penetrate.
Founded in 1990 by Angle together with Helen Greiner and Rodney Brooks—three visionary roboticists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology—iRobot began with an ambitious dream to transform the realm of robotics from academic theory into practical, everyday utility. The company’s breakthrough arrived in 2002 with the release of the Roomba, a compact, sensor-driven vacuuming robot that not only captivated consumers but also effectively created an entirely new product category: domestic service robotics. Over the following two decades, iRobot continually refined its technology, cultivating a global brand synonymous with innovation and user-friendly automation. At its apex in 2021, the company reached peak annual revenue of roughly $1.56 billion, even temporarily securing the position of leading robotic vacuum manufacturer in China.
Yet, the momentum that had carried iRobot for years began to falter as the global market evolved. Angle observed that the foundations of the home robotics sector were swiftly and dramatically reshaped by the emergence of aggressive Chinese entrants such as Roborock, which began to erode iRobot’s dominance soon after its introduction in 2018. These companies—among them Dreame, Ecovacs, and Shar—combined technical sophistication with cost efficiency and an uncanny ability to iterate rapidly. According to Angle, their key advantage stemmed from operating within a protected economic environment that allowed them to refine their products domestically before expanding internationally. China, he explained, further bolstered their rise by offering direct subsidies to local robotic manufacturers, thus placing foreign competitors like iRobot at a structural disadvantage.
This support for domestic innovation was part of a much broader national initiative: China’s concerted push to position itself as a global center for robotics development and adoption. The government’s strategic plans, implemented across multiple industrial sectors, included generous incentives for companies investing in robotic solutions. Reports from the Asian Robotics Review indicate that subsidies for robot purchases have averaged around 17.5% of total equipment costs, reinforcing a growth environment that favors local producers while accelerating the nation’s technological self-sufficiency.
Angle also admitted that some of iRobot’s difficulties stemmed from internal missteps. Certain products, such as the Scuba wet-mopping robot, failed to resonate with consumers. In his words, “we got wet mopping wrong,” an acknowledgment that even pioneering companies can stumble when innovation veers away from market demand. This period of intensifying competition, combined with escalating pressure to sustain profitability, eventually led iRobot to explore alternative strategies to preserve its capacity for research and product development.
One of the most notable of these efforts was the company’s proposed acquisition by Amazon, announced as a $1.4 billion deal intended to grant iRobot greater resources for innovation and distribution. However, the merger became ensnared in a prolonged antitrust review conducted by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and European regulators. The FTC’s 2024 statement summarized their concerns, focusing on whether Amazon might exploit its platform power to prioritize its own products, suppress rivals, or inhibit innovation and privacy protections in the smart home sector. Angle later described the Amazon partnership as a “no-brainer,” asserting in an interview with TechCrunch that the collaboration was conceived to foster greater creativity, expand consumer options, and stabilize iRobot’s business trajectory after years of mounting challenges.
He lamented, however, that the regulatory scrutiny dragged on far longer than necessary. What should have been a matter of a few weeks turned into an exhausting eighteen-month ordeal, which severely disrupted operations, diminished investor confidence, and ultimately culminated in the deal’s rejection. In Angle’s view, this lost opportunity symbolized more than a corporate setback—it highlighted a broader issue within the U.S. innovation ecosystem, where bureaucratic inertia and hesitant policymaking can inadvertently disadvantage domestic manufacturers competing against fast-moving global rivals.
As iRobot’s story closes one chapter and opens another under new ownership, Angle has urged observers to regard the company’s fate as a cautionary tale for the future of American manufacturing and technology leadership. He summarized the outcome poignantly on “Hard Fork,” saying that the result of these combined forces amounted to “putting the consumer robot industry in a box, gift‑wrapping it, and handing it to someone else.” His words underscore a hard-won truth: in an era defined by velocity, scale, and international competitiveness, even the innovators who build the future must continually fight to keep pace with those who can replicate it.
Sourse: https://www.businessinsider.com/irobot-ceo-bankruptcy-china-fast-followers-competition-2025-12
