Amazon announces the €1.7 billion acquisition of iRobot. The company is responsible for Roomba, one of the most popular robotic vacuum cleaners. The acquisition may benefit the further development of AWS services for robotics.
IRobot was listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange in 2005. The stock price tripled between March 2020 and March 2021. During the pandemic, demand for robotic vacuum cleaners skyrocketed. IRobot is one of the largest suppliers, known for its Roomba flagship.
The past few months were incomparable to last year’s success. The stock price fell as lockdowns phased out. Inflation rises and demand for consumer equipment declines. Investor confidence in iRobot sank accordingly.
Some organizations benefit from the trend. Private investor Thoma Bravo is an example. The organization primarily acquires organizations with disappointing numbers. Amazon is in a similar position. The organization generated $37 billion of disposable income in the second quarter of 2022. The commerce giant hopes to use some of the money to acquire iRobot.
Amazon and iRobot agreed on a $1.7 billion (€1.67 billion) deal. The deal can only be finalized with the approval of relevant market authorities. Amazon did not disclose when the approval is expected.
Why?
According to Reuters, device revenue is only a fraction of Amazon’s sales. The giant didn’t clarify the reasons for acquiring iRobot. Amazon possibly wants to expand into smart electronics. Furthermore, some of iRobot’s devices collect data on users’ households. The data is valuable for smart electronics manufacturers, including Amazon.
Lastly, iRobot has expertise in robot development. Amazon Web Services (AWS) provides multiple software and infrastructure services for robotics, including AWS RoboMaker. The acquisition could prove to be valuable for further service development.
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