Amazon acquires home robot maker iRobot for a whopping $1.7 billion

Amazon on Friday announced to acquire Global consumer robot company iRobot for $1.7 billion in an all-cash deal. iRobot introduced the first Roomba robot vacuum in 2002 and has sold millions of robots worldwide for cleaning, mapping and navigation.

"Over many years, the iRobot team has proven its ability to reinvent how people clean with products that are incredibly practical and inventive from cleaning when and where customers want while avoiding common obstacles in the home, to automatically emptying the collection bin," said Dave Limp, SVP of Amazon Devices.

On completion of the transaction, Colin Angle will remain as CEO of iRobot.

"Since we started iRobot, our team has been on a mission to create innovative, practical products that make customers' lives easier, leading to inventions like the Roomba and iRobot OS," said Angle, chairman and CEO.

"Amazon shares our passion for building thoughtful innovations that empower people to do more at home, and I cannot think of a better place for our team to continue our mission," he added.

The completion of the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including approval by iRobot's shareholders and regulatory approvals.

Dominated by house-cleaning robots, global consumer service robotics market posted 25 per cent shipment growth (year-on-year) last year, a report showed this week.

The consumer robot market is estimated to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 27 per cent over the next four years, according to Counterpoint's IoT service.

"House cleaning robots, which mainly comprise robot vacuums, is the most dominant category in the robotics industry, capturing over two-thirds of the total consumer service robotics market," said senior research analyst Anshika Jain.