This morning, Amazon and iRobot introduced “a definitive merger settlement below which Amazon will purchase iRobot” for US $1.7 billion. The announcement was a shock, to place it mildly, and we’ve barely had an opportunity to digest the information. However looking at what’s already identified can nonetheless yield preliminary (if incomplete) solutions as to why Amazon and iRobot wish to staff up—and whether or not the merger looks as if a good suggestion.
The press launch, like most press releases about acquisitions of this nature, doesn’t embrace a lot in the way in which of element. However listed below are some quotes:
“We all know that saving time issues, and chores take valuable time that may be higher spent doing one thing that clients love,” mentioned Dave Limp, SVP of Amazon Units. “Over a few years, the iRobot staff has confirmed its means to reinvent how folks clear with merchandise which are extremely sensible and creative—from cleansing when and the place clients need whereas avoiding widespread obstacles within the house, to mechanically emptying the gathering bin. Clients love iRobot merchandise—and I am excited to work with the iRobot staff to invent in ways in which make clients’ lives simpler and extra fulfilling.”
“Since we began iRobot, our staff has been on a mission to create progressive, sensible merchandise that make clients’ lives simpler, resulting in innovations just like the Roomba and iRobot OS,” mentioned Colin Angle, chairman and CEO of iRobot. “Amazon shares our ardour for constructing considerate improvements that empower folks to do extra at house, and I can’t consider a greater place for our staff to proceed our mission. I’m massively excited to be part of Amazon and to see what we will construct collectively for patrons within the years forward.”
There’s not a lot to go on right here, and iRobot has already referred us to Amazon PR, which, to be trustworthy, appears like a little bit of a punch within the intestine. I really like (liked?) so many issues about iRobot—their quirky early historical past engaged on bizarre DARPA initiatives and even weirder toys, all the things they achieved with the PackBot (and likewise this), and most of all, the truth that they’ve made a profitable firm constructing helpful and inexpensive robots for the house, which is simply…it’s so exhausting to do this I don’t even know the place to begin. And no person is aware of what’s going to occur to iRobot going ahead. I’m certain iRobot and Amazon have every kind of plans and guarantees and whatnot, however nonetheless—I’m now nervous about iRobot’s future.
Why this can be a good transfer for Amazon is evident, however what precisely is in it for iRobot?
It appears pretty apparent why Amazon wished to get its fingers on iRobot. Amazon has been working for years to combine itself into properties, first with audio programs (Alexa), after which video (Ring), and extra lately some questionable house robots of its personal, like its indoor safety drone and Astro. Amazon clearly wants some assist in understanding the way to make house robots helpful, and iRobot can seemingly present some steerage, with its terribly certified staff of extremely skilled engineers. And evidently, iRobot is already properly established in an enormous variety of properties, with model recognition akin to one thing like Velcro or Xerox, within the sense that individuals don’t have “robotic vacuums,” they’ve Roombas.
All these Roombas in all of these properties are additionally gathering a loopy quantity of information for iRobot. iRobot itself has been fairly privacy-sensitive about this, however it might be naïve to not assume that Amazon sees loads of potential for studying a lot, far more about what goes on in our residing rooms. That is extra regarding, as a result of Amazon has its personal concepts about knowledge privateness, and it’s unclear what this can imply for more and more camera-reliant Roombas going ahead.
I get why this can be a good transfer for Amazon, however I need to admit that I’m nonetheless attempting to determine what precisely is in it for iRobot, apart from after all that “$61 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at roughly $1.7 billion.” Which, to be honest, looks as if a heck of some huge cash. Normally when these sorts of mergers occur (and I’m pondering again to Google buying all these robotics firms in 2013), the hypothetical attraction for the robotics firm is that all of a sudden they’ve a bunch extra sources to spend on thrilling new initiatives together with an enormous assist construction to assist them succeed.
It’s true that iRobot has apparently had some hassle with discovering methods to innovate and develop, with their largest potential new client product (the Terra garden mower) having been on pause since 2020. It could possibly be that massive pile of money, plus not having to fret a lot about progress as a publicly traded firm, plus some new Amazon-ish initiatives to work on could possibly be motive sufficient for this acquisition.
My fear, although, is that iRobot is simply going to get utterly swallowed into Amazon and successfully stop to exist in a significant and distinctive means. I hope that the connection between Amazon and iRobot will probably be an exception to this historic development. Plus, there’s some precedent for this—Boston Dynamics, for instance, has survived a number of acquisitions whereas maintaining its know-how and philosophy kind of unbiased and intact. It’ll be on iRobot to very aggressively act to protect itself, and maintaining Colin Angle as CEO is an efficient begin.
We’ll be attempting to trace down extra of us to speak to about this over the approaching weeks for a extra nuanced and in-depth perspective. Within the meantime, make certain to present your Roomba a hug—it’s been fairly a day for little spherical robotic vacuums.
