Once a leader in robotic vacuum technology with over $1 billion in revenue, iRobot has faced steep losses, with recent warnings about its future viability. The company's struggles stem from a misguided attempt to branch into new product categories while neglecting its core vacuum business amid rising competition. Chinese brands, for instance, now offer advanced models featuring superior technology like LIDAR sensors. During its peak, especially during the COVID-19 lockdown, the Roomba's popularity soared, but the company must reevaluate its strategy to regain its foothold.
Although there's of course more than one answer to that question, a major factor seems to have been an ill-fated focus on dreaming up ways to move beyond the vacuum into new product categories.
iRobot released its first Roomba model in 2002, essentially inventing a new "robotic floorcare" category: a relatively affordable robotic vacuum that whirred around on its own, sucking up dust.
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