By Lucia Maffei
Can iRobot continue to spur robotics innovation even as its research and development spending is on the decline?
That’s one of the big questions that emerged in the aftermath of the implosion of iRobot’s merger deal with Amazon, which forced the Bedford-based Roomba-maker to chart an alternative path to its own future while remaining a standalone company.
Over the course of this year, iRobot plans to reduce research & development expenses by approximately $25 million. That reduction is part of a broader restructuring plan that includes the layoffs of 350 workers, as well as decreasing selling and marketing expenses by $40 million.All work not related to floorcare innovation will stop, at least for now. That includes air purification, robotic lawn mowing and education. Furthermore, all non-core engineering functions are set to be offshored to lower-cost regions. As of February, iRobot’s employed 490 people in Massachusetts out of a total workforce of 1,111.
IRobot’s spending on R&D was $144.1 million last year, down 13% from 2022. A further cut of $25 million in 2024 represents another 17% drop.
CTO Chris Jones said that the “adjustments” to R&D and other expenses don’t mean the company is less concerned with innovation.
“The intent is the focusing of the business, and a core part of the focusing of the business is on making sure that we can appropriately invest in innovation for the future of the business,” he said.
In his first earnings call after the collapse of Amazon’s deal, Interim iRobot CEO Glen Weinstein noted that not all innovation activities are being discontinued. The company plans to keep on investing “in the higher-value robotics, computer vision, machine learning and complex mechanical design to improve the core functionality of our robots.”