iRobot, maker of the enduring Roomba robotic vacuum, introduced its second-quarter earnings late final week, and the numbers maintain happening. Regardless of launching an entirely new product line, its income declined 23 p.c to $127.6 million from the earlier quarter, with the profitable US and European markets being hit hardest.
The corporate has struggled within the face of elevated competitors from Chinese language producers and the collapse of a sale to Amazon, which left it deep in debt. Earlier this yr, CEO Gary Cohen indicated iRobot could shut down within 12 months if one thing didn’t change. The clock is ticking.
Final week, Cohen stated that whereas buyer response to the brand new product line has been “encouraging,” iRobot didn’t meet its targets this quarter “as a result of persistent market headwinds and delays in scaling manufacturing and gross sales of our new merchandise.” He confirmed the corporate continues to be taking a look at a possible sale or different “strategic options” to get out of debt.