Following a challenging 2025, a significant chapter for iRobot may be closing

Roombas, in their current form, could vanish this time next year. It appears that iRobot aims to carry on with the product range under Picea’s guidance, yet we remain uncertain about when the next generation of Roombas will be unveiled. Here’s the backstory.

Amazon and iRobot terminated their acquisition agreement back in 2024, leading to a downward spiral for iRobot since then. Shortly after this setback, iRobot unexpectedly revamped the Roomba series in March 2025 — a notable shift from its standard release timeline, where the most notable Roombas usually debut in August. It felt like a desperate measure to sustain the company after facing profitability issues in 2024.

Over 20 Roombas have been launched since the inaugural Roomba entered households in 2002, but the latest series lacked the innovative spark that distinguished its forerunners. As someone who reviews robot vacuums professionally, I’ve been stating for a year that Roombas were finding it difficult to remain significant amidst a market filled with smarter, more powerful, and competitively priced robot vacs from brands like Roborock and iRobot’s leading rival in Google searches, Shark. It’s fantastic to finally see a mopping Roomba equipped with spinning mopping pads or a self-cleaning and -drying mopping pad dock at a reasonable price. However, the top robot vacuum mop combinations from other manufacturers have surpassed those features for years.

If there’s any chance for rehabilitating the Roomba’s image, iRobot and Picea must adopt a more pragmatic approach to pricing. Should new Roombas be launched, they need to be considerably more affordable compared to other robot vacuums available that provide similar functions. If iRobot and Picea choose to uphold premium pricing, they truly need to “innovate” as indicated in the December 15 press release — as