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Amazon devices are listening, watching, and soon they’ll be cleaning up after you.
The e-commerce giant will acquire iRobot, best known for its Roomba robotic vacuum, in a $1.7 billion cash deal, the latest step in its push into the home. From fitness devices to streaming devices to its Alexa digital assistant, Amazon has advanced a line of devices under an ecosystem that ties consumers more closely to the company and its services. Last year, it introduced Astro, a $1,000-plus robot meant to transport small items and keep its cameras peeled for intruders.
The deal announced Friday is also a continuation of Amazon’s business strategy to expand market share in different product categories through acquisitions. It picked up Ring, which makes video doorbells and other smart home technology, in February 2018, and before that Blink, which makes connected home cameras and doorbells. It also shocked the grocery industry in 2017 when it announced the purchase of Whole Foods Market, a deal valued at $13.7 billion.
(Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.)
The next generation of home robots will be more capable, and perhaps more social
The move comes just two weeks after Amazon announced it would buy primary care provider One Medical for $3.9 billion as part of a major expansion of the tech company’s healthcare ambitions. The tie-up, one of its largest acquisitions ever, gives Amazon a brick-and-mortar network of offices and healthcare providers and strengthens its existing healthcare portfolio, which includes an online pharmacy and Amazon Care, a urgent at home and virtual. service
Amazon’s $61 per share offer represents a 22 percent premium to Thursday’s closing price of $49.99. Shares of iRobot rose nearly 19.1 percent to close at $59.54 on Friday.
“We know that saving time is important, and tasks take up precious time that can be better spent doing something that customers enjoy,” said Dave Limp, senior vice president of Amazon Devices. “For many years, the iRobot team has demonstrated its ability to reinvent the way people clean with incredibly practical and inventive products.”
Founded in 1990 by roboticists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, iRobot offers a variety of automated vacuums and mops, as well as air purifiers and handheld vacuums. Its signature Roomba, which retails for up to $1,000, learns the contours and corners of floors and can detect objects, offering Wi-Fi and smartphone connectivity and can be summoned by enabled smart home devices by voice The company began trading on the Nasdaq in 2005.
Despite being a prominent name in home robotics, iRobot has had a rough year. On Friday, it reported second-quarter revenue of $255.4 million, a 30 percent drop from the year-ago period. It reported a net loss of $43.4 million for the three-month period ended July 2.
The company also plans to shift certain non-core engineering functions to lower-cost regions as part of a cost-cutting plan and lay off 10 percent of its workforce, about 140 employees, the report said. earnings.
The company has withdrawn the 2022 financial forecast it issued in May and, citing “ongoing disruptions and uncertainties that could affect the company’s outlook,” suspended providing all other guidance on future performance.
iRobot’s products, which draw the blueprints of its customers’ most intimate spaces, will add to Amazon’s suite of products that work by keeping an eye on the home and the people inside it.
What started as a microphone on a speaker has evolved into a growing genre of devices meant to make home life more enjoyable. Last September, at the company’s annual fall press event, Amazon unveiled a 15-inch wall-mounted version of its Echo Show display that watches and listens to your home, and a host of other products and services which all monitor consumers in some way. anticipate their needs.
The growth of this technology highlights consumers’ growing tolerance for sensors and cameras trained on their daily routines. This development has drawn criticism from privacy advocates and concerned consumers. It also underlines how tech giants see the home as another platform for a variety of services and a gold mine of personal data.
Amazon will acquire iRobot’s net debt under the terms of the deal, which will require approval from regulators and the robot maker’s shareholders. Colin Angle will continue as CEO of iRobot.
Amazon shares fell 1.2 percent to close at $140.80 on Friday, giving it a market value of $1.4 trillion.
Last week, the Seattle giant reported its second straight quarterly loss of $2.03 billion, or 20 cents a share, driven by a $3.9 billion write-down linked to its investment in startup electric vehicles Rivian Automotive, the Associated Press reported. . But Amazon also reported better-than-expected second-quarter revenue of $121.2 billion.