After $23M Tariff Hit, Roomba Maker Surrenders to Chinese Buyout

From $3.5 Billion to Bankruptcy in Four Years

The company that invented the robot vacuum and put cleaning robots in 40 million homes just collapsed.

iRobot, maker of the Roomba, filed for bankruptcy in December 2025 and will be taken over by a Chinese manufacturer.

What was once a $3.5 billion American success story is now worth about $140 million, and shareholders will get nothing.

The path from MIT lab to Chinese ownership runs through blocked mergers, crushing tariffs, and a wave of cheaper competitors that iRobot never saw coming.

MIT Scientists Build Robots in 1990

Three roboticists from MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Lab founded iRobot in 1990.

Colin Angle, Helen Greiner, and Rodney Brooks wanted to build practical robots that could work in the real world.

Their early projects included robots for NASA’s space exploration, machines that searched the Great Pyramid of Giza, and military bots that defused bombs in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The company spent 12 years doing government contract work before anyone thought about cleaning floors.

The Roomba Arrives in 2002

iRobot launched the first Roomba in September 2002 for $200.

The circular robot that could vacuum floors by itself sounded like science fiction, but customers loved it. The company sold 150,000 units in 18 months and created an entirely new product category.

Within a few years, Roomba became a verb. People posted videos of cats riding them.

The little robot that looked like a hockey puck had become part of American life.

Pandemic Boom Hits $3.5 Billion

When COVID-19 kept everyone home in 2020 and 2021, demand for home automation went through the roof. iRobot stock peaked at over $160 per share in January 2021.

The company had sold more than 40 million robots worldwide and was valued at $3.56 billion.

It seemed like nothing could stop the Roomba maker. The stock price would never get anywhere close to that number again.

Amazon Offers a $1.7 Billion Lifeline

In August 2022, Amazon announced it would buy iRobot for $1.7 billion.

The deal looked like a perfect match. Amazon had global distribution and deep pockets.

iRobot had the technology and brand recognition. The acquisition would have been Amazon’s fourth-largest ever.

iRobot took out a $200 million loan to sustain itself during the merger review, expecting the deal to close within months.

European Regulators Block the Deal

The European Commission opened an investigation in July 2023, worried that Amazon could use Roomba data to crush competitors on its marketplace. By January 2024, the writing was on the wall.

EU regulators signaled they would veto the acquisition. Amazon and iRobot walked away from the deal.

Amazon paid a $94 million breakup fee, and founder Colin Angle resigned as CEO. iRobot was left alone with a $200 million loan and no buyer.

Chinese Rivals Take Over the Market

While iRobot fought for survival, Chinese companies were eating its lunch.

Roborock, Ecovacs, Dreame, and Xiaomi flooded the market with robot vacuums that had more features and lower prices. They iterated faster and cut costs deeper.

By 2025, eight of the top ten robot vacuum makers in the world were Chinese. iRobot’s global market share, once above 60 percent, had dropped to around 13 percent.

The company that created the category was now an afterthought.

Trump Tariffs Add $23 Million in Costs

iRobot moved production from China to Vietnam years ago to avoid trade war tariffs. That strategy backfired.

When President Trump imposed 46 percent tariffs on Vietnamese imports in April 2025, iRobot’s costs exploded. The company paid an extra $23 million in tariff costs in 2025 alone.

The uncertainty made it impossible to plan for the future. Every Roomba shipped to America now cost nearly half again as much to import.

Company Owes $3.4 Million in Unpaid Tariffs

The bankruptcy filing revealed how bad things had gotten. iRobot owed U.S. Customs and Border Protection $3.4 million in unpaid tariffs.

It owed nearly $100 million to Shenzhen Picea Robotics, the Chinese company that manufactures all of its products. Total debt reached $480 million.

Revenue dropped 33 percent in the third quarter. The company was bleeding cash with no way to stop it.

Privacy Worries Follow the Takeover

Roombas do more than vacuum. They use cameras and lasers to map your home, store that data in the cloud, and know when you’re away. Now a Chinese company will control that information.

iRobot’s CEO says customer data will stay on American servers and remain encrypted. But Senator Elizabeth Warren has called on the Trump administration to review the deal for national security risks.

Some customers are wondering who’s really watching their floors now.

America Loses Its Last Robot Vacuum Maker

The deal is expected to close by February 2026. Shenzhen Picea Robotics will own 100 percent of iRobot.

Shareholders get nothing. Chinese companies now control more than 63 percent of the global robot vacuum market.

iRobot co-founder Colin Angle called the outcome “profoundly disappointing” and “a tragedy for consumers.”

The company that started in an MIT lab and revolutionized home cleaning is now a subsidiary of its Chinese supplier.

The Roomba Still Works for Now

iRobot says its app, customer service, and product support will continue without interruption. Your Roomba will still clean your floors and return to its dock.

But the company that invented it is gone in everything but name.

An American tech icon that once seemed untouchable became a casualty of trade wars, blocked mergers, and relentless competition. The robots keep running.

The company that made them doesn’t.

Visiting the Museum of Clean, Idaho

If you want to see where robot vacuums came from, head to Pocatello, Idaho.

The Museum of Clean houses over 1,000 vacuum cleaners spanning a century, including the world’s first vacuum from 1860 and a horse-drawn motor-powered model from 1902.

The six-story, 75,000-square-foot museum at 711 South 2nd Avenue is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p. m.

Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for children ages 3 to 15.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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