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Quietly creeping ahead.
Obtaining FDA clearances is a necessary step for any patient servicing robot or device that may impact patient safety. To my knowlege IRBT is the only company in the arena that is going through the necessary steps needed to sell their bots on the open market. All the others I've seen to date just seem interested in playing with RC toys and taking shreholder money.
Next step, Medicare re-imbursement approval???
IRBT all the way!!!!
Yep, waitin on news before I jump back in. IRBT is by far the most productive bot company in the world. Check the progress of Intouch, they're already going through the FDA approval process. One step closer eh???
In my mind it makes perfect sense. The pendulum has swung and current political climate isn't supporting big defense contracts, so IRBT is seeking growth in other markets e.g. healthcare and homecare.
No secret Medicare and Medicaid are not sustainable meaning changes are coming. In my opinion, IRBT is positioning themselves using the AVA platform and partnering with Intouch who already has contracts with 600+ hospitals nationwide gives them an edge. What better test bed to perfect the tool, gain market share, and establish itself. The autonomous device navigates through the facility and allows MDs to conduct rounds remotely via telepresence. I doubt the market for this is huge, but I’m here for the next logical step in the evolution.
Refined and mass produced, the AVA could easily be deployed in homes as a means to monitor medically fragile patients, delay nursing home entry and costly skilled nursing visits which could save the feds billions a year.
Also, keep in mind, IRBT already has the necessary lobbyists in place to get the coveted Medicare approvals to drive this home. $$$
Just my 2c.
Cheers,
K
probably to get into the prof healthcare market-
intouch has many joystick 'bots in a some hospitals.
I think because evolution had some low level of autonomy tech that IRBT didn't have, and couldn't invent...
IRBT is top heavy with six figure management-
as their sales volume goes up, their G&A goes up faster!
that's the only reason I can see for their pps to be so much lower than their IPO price of $26.
mo!
3piececan
i've seen fallout like this before. gotta avoid the falling knife...
boy, this gets worse and worse here. can't imagine next week being any better either...
wow, nice dead cat bounce this morning followed by overwhelming selling. can't fool the market. this is looking like the beginning of big downward trend just getting worse and worse...
I think the red flag was hoisted in February. Now that was a SELLOFF. Who was selling?
"For the first nine months, net income was $23.2 million, compared with $29.6 million a year ago." revenue seems to be trending down as operating expenses keep increasing, especially since the company is already expecting a negative Q4. i was considering giving IRBT a look but i wouldn't touch it with a 10 foot pole now based on the inevitable rocky times ahead...
LOL, a half billion dollar a year "fad".
Too funny.
yea, big RED FLAG here. huge sell off after the company admits they are struggling to make money. this is pretty typical with niche/fad products like the iRobot catalog. looks like this could be the start of a pretty patch for this company...
So when is the AVA launch again? They should get with it in order to supplement the lose of their military contracts.
I think that analysts predicted this slide in future revenue. It shouldn't come as a shock. It wouldn't shock me if they intended to hoard cash for such an event. They have increased their expenses every year it seems.
They are lucky defense and security is less than a 1/4 of the business. But are the home robots trending down as well?
Where is the innovation?
At least they have advertising. Hope that's a good investment for them.
Ava isn't going to be a big revenue generator for years. Their money is in consumer products around the Roomba platform and defense robots.
Luckily, defense and security make up less than a quarter of iRBTs business.
Full-Year 2012 BU Revenue:___ Current ________________Prior
Home Robots______________ $355 - $360 million ___$365 - $375 million
Defense & Security Robots____ $75 - $80 million_____ $100 - $110 million
Your right.
I don't think that they are sweating that much being down 20& today and looking at further loses next year.
Because the bulk of their income comes from defense and as the following article puts it, "Peace is breaking out". Sadly for the world, that will of course change, though happily for iRBT.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericsavitz/2012/10/23/irobot-shares-stumble-cuts-outlook-as-peace-breaks-out
No worries though, their problems are mostly of the one-time charge variety.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/irobot-says-lose-money-4q-223233634.html
The nice thing about having $5/share in cash is that you don't have to sweat the tough times.
Wow!!
Looks like this one is in trouble.
Why with such good reviews?
Wow 4+ stars on Amazon. Almost unheard of with 53 reviews.
http://www.amazon.com/iRobot-Roomba-Vacuum-Cleaning-Allergies/product-reviews/B005GK3IVW/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1
I love this top review, " Life changing product!"
!, May 15, 2012
By Sammy "Workaholic"
This review is from: iRobot Roomba 770 Vacuum Cleaning Robot for Pets and Allergies (Misc.)
I am 41 years old and have had allergies my entire life - they have gotten worse over the past 5 years. I already take Singulair and Claritin but still have symptoms. I was just diagnosed with asthma, which apparently was caused by my allergies. Thus, I decided to wage war on indoor allergies in my house.
I hired a cleaning company to clean my house a few years ago - they were horrible. I did a better job then they did. Also, I have pets and am not comfortable with someone being in my house with them when I am not there. My problem is time - I work full time and was finding little time to vacuum (to the point where I was vacuuming only once every week or other week). I have 3 cats and one dog, with hardwood floors and area rugs on my first floor and carpet in my bedroom and hallway upstairs. My house was not clean, to say the least. I just couldn't keep up with it.
My brother suggested that I purchase this product. I thought, why not? I did not buy this on Amazon because they did not offer the 770 model at the time of my purchase (in April 2012) or I would have - I bought it from the iRobot website.
This model offers a vacuum with HEPA filters in the dust cartridge. Please note that the low cost models like the Mint are not vacuums! They just push around a dusting cloth to collect dust. This would not meet my requirements, for obvious reasons. This product also has a schedule so I can tell it to start vacuuming at a certain time each day. You can also start the cleaning manually at any time but pushing a button.
It's not loud - much quieter than a regular vacuum and I can be watching TV in this room and it's vacuuming in the next room - would be too loud to watch TV if it were running in the same room. And, my cats and my dog were not afraid of it at all. They can be in the same room with it with no issues. It moves slowly so it it is coming towards them, they just move out of the way.
It comes with an instructional DVD which you don't really need as it's pretty easy to figure out. It runs for up to 3 hours on a charge, and will take itself back to its docking station if it needs to recharge and when it's done cleaning. It has cliff sensors so it knows it it is near steps, for example, and will not fall down! It also has a dirt sensor and will go over an area repeatedly if it finds a lot of dirt until it's clean.
The dust bin is a good size - I have yet to fill it up to the point where the vacuum can't go on until I empty it (it has a dust bin light which turns on to tell you if it's full). But, this is not meant to catch the same amount of dirt as you would have if you vacuumed every week or two - this is intended to be used for regular maintenance (every day or two) so it doesn't need to have the same size dust bin as a regular vacuum.
I have a Dyson Canister vac and this product works better than that for many reasons. First, it takes the time to clean the floors - as long as it needs and will go over an area until it's clean. Also, it has an edge cleaning tool built in and cleans along edges (for example, against the wall) well. I have a 2600 square foot house and I couldn't even clean one floor in 8 hours before, since I was rushing to vacuum, dust, etc. in the one day that I had on the weekend to clean.
Since purchasing this product, my asthma has improved significantly and my house is spotless! I loved it so much that I bought another one for the second floor. And, I have found that I dust much less - I used to have to dust every few days (and didn't, ended up doing this once a week if I found the time) and now, I dust every 3 weeks!
This is a life changing product for me. Yes, it's expensive but it costs about the same as my Dyson and it does all of the work for me. I highly recommend this product!
Pretty impressive company.
"In 2011, iRobot generated more than $465 million in revenue and employed more than 600 of the robot industry’s top professionals, including mechanical, electrical and software engineers and related support staff."
Yeah, it's a pretty neat product.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-57424195-76/irobots-ava-have-tablet-will-travel/
Been well vetted too - showcased at CES and in many demos. They've even licensed the PrimeSense detectors used in Kinect.
Autonomous self-navigation.
http://www.irobot.com/us/cool_stuff/Research/Human-Robot_Interaction.aspx
Ava appears to be progressing nicely. Been watching a number of other bot companies in the US and abroad and none of them appear to be even close to a marketable healthcare bot device.
Irobot has the R&D resources, talent, capital and most importantly IMO, the connections that will be needed to cut through the beaurucratic red tape and get their bots into the heathcare arena.
Good luck to all...
K
Ava. According to Colin Angle they have been working on Ava to be used in the home for over 20 years. What could possibly be taking so long? I would say that project is no longer viable.
Wow, people hate their Roombas and the lack of response they receive from IRobot. Check this out for scathing reviews:
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/homeowners/irobot.html
"I join the ranks of thousands of others who have had problems with their product after a short period of use. My Roomba was used about 12 times over the course of 2 years and the battery went punk. The company said to go punt essentially. I'm out of $300.00."
"I have had problems with iRobot systems and customer service for several years. I have bought about 4 different robots and all of them only worked for a couple of weeks to a maximum of 3 months. iRobot does not have a repair center therefore they make their clients troubleshoot this poorly engineered vacuums over the phone."
"I have spent numerous hours going over troubleshooting and nothing was ever fixed. They have gotten to the extent of sending me what I believe was a refurbished unit that did not work either! All of this happened when I lived in California with my family. I'm now in PA and after opening all the boxes from the move, I found the bad Roombas and sparked the interest of trying to see if any of poorly made machines worked, after a full charge given, one went into circles and another went really slow and so long. No carpet or floors were cleaned as usual."
"I called Roomba Customer Service and kept an open mind, thinking that maybe I can exchange the four I have for one that works, but now they are out of warranty and conveniently they only have records of what they wanted to keep with only one machine registered. However, they mentioned that one was sent to me in 2007. I told them that it never worked so they asked me again to troubleshoot the unit and of course after using compressors to blow out the dust, it still never worked. The unit is brand new, why should I blow dust out of it? Nonsense In case someone wants to file a class complaint, please let me know. I believe just by reading this post there are thousands of people with similar issues. I will be willing to talk to an attorney if anyone would be willing to pick up the case and get a new system to the people that have similar problems or whatever is necessary to do."
"I am astounded that Colin Angle, as the CEO of a large consumer products manufacturer, would not list an email address so that he could receive emails from his customers. Perhaps, it is because of the point of view engendered by an engineering background that puts things ahead of human beings. When my Roomba 560 began to whine and thump, despite regular careful cleaning after only five months of use, I called Customer Service and was told I needed to replace the brush assembly. When I mentioned that one user on a complaints website mentioned that to clean the 560 thoroughly, the brush assembly has to be removed, the customer service rep told me that iRobot discouraged such a disassembly so I did not do it.
I was then sold a replacement brush assembly, which it was claimed would cure the problem. Upon receiving it, I removed the old assembly and found dog hair around the gears. Instead of installing the new assembly, I cleaned and reinstalled the old one and found that it worked fine and that I did not need the replacement (at least, not yet). In addition, the front wheel fell out of its housing because the plastic gave way after twenty or thirty removals of the wheel to clean it, as the instructions required. I was told by a customer service rep, after complaining that I should not remove the wheel, but clean the axle with it in place. Lots of luck with that! So I had to buy another wheel assembly!"
"I purchased an iRobot Roomba 535 brand new from Woot.com in March of '09. About six months after the warranty expired, the Roomba started malfunctioning with the "9 beep error." This is a very well-documented error for this particular model (the 500 series) as evidenced by over 200 posts here: **. Same as the other complaints below regarding this model, I also attempted the "fixes" listed on the website to fix the issue, but to no avail. iRobot stated that there is no way to repair it. I only have to buy a new one for $150. What's a real kicker here is that iRobot refuses to offer an extended warranty for the replacement. I can understand that this is barely out of warranty. However, because this is such a well-documented design defect, I believe that my Roomba should be repaired free of charged or replaced with a non-defective model."
U.S. Army Awards iRobot $10 Million IDIQ Contract
Tweet Print
Alert
Irobot Corp. (MM) (NASDAQ:IRBT)
Intraday Stock Chart
Today : Monday 15 October 2012
iRobot Corp. (NASDAQ: IRBT), a leader in delivering robotic technology-based solutions, has received a $10 million indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract from the U.S. Army’s Robotic Systems Joint Program Office (RSJPO) for maintenance training and spares for the iRobot 310 SUGV. An initial $2 million order under the contract for spares has also been placed. Deliveries will be completed by Q1 2013.
The iRobot 310 SUGV is a tactical mobile robot that gathers situational awareness in dangerous conditions for warfighters and public safety professionals.(Photo: Business Wire)
The iRobot 310 SUGV is a man-portable robot for dismounted mobile operations. SUGV enters areas that are inaccessible or too dangerous for people, providing state-of-the-art technology for infantry troops, combat engineers, mobile EOD technicians and other personnel.
In addition, iRobot has received a $3.7 million order from the RSJPO for heads-down controllers. The handheld controller includes a 5.6” LCD display screen that is sunlight readable. This order is separate from the IDIQ contract, and deliveries will be completed by Q4 2012.
“iRobot is pleased to continue its partnership with the Army to provide world class robotic capabilities that help keep our warfighters out of harm’s way,” said Frank Wilson, senior vice president and general manager of iRobot’s Defense & Security business unit. “We are delivering the heads-down controller in response to specific requests from the field. This easy to use controller provides the operator with a high degree of situational awareness while conducting dangerous missions.”
iRobot has delivered more than 5,000 robots to military and civil defense forces. The robots perform multiple missions on the land and in the water, protecting troops, saving lives and making a difference around the world.
About iRobot Corp.
iRobot designs and builds robots that make a difference. The company’s home robots help people with smarter ways to clean, and its defense & security robots protect those in harm’s way. iRobot’s consumer and military robots feature iRobot Aware® robot intelligence systems, proprietary technology incorporating advanced concepts in navigation, mobility, manipulation and artificial intelligence. For more information about iRobot, please visit www.irobot.com.
For iRobot Investors
Certain statements made in this press release that are not based on historical information are forward-looking statements which are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. This press release contains express or implied forward-looking statements relating to, among other things, iRobot Corp.’s expectations concerning deliveries of robots to customers. These statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in these forward-looking statements. Existing and prospective investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. iRobot Corp. undertakes no obligation to update or revise the information contained in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or circumstances or otherwise. For additional disclosure regarding these and other risks faced by iRobot Corp., see the disclosure contained in our public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission including, without limitation, our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K.
http://ih.advfn.com/p.php?pid=nmona&article=54515380
IMO once the healthcare product line is launched and gains a toe hold, this will fly. It has a capability of dwarfing the military applications and I imagine IRBT already has the established political connections needed to fast track the Medicare, Medicaid reimbursement approvals. I see this as a buy and hold.
Nice 25%+ jump over the last month or so. And still 50% more to go to get back to the 52 week high.
Sweet.
Nice jump over the past few days. Look forward to many happy returns here.
Ava is not for sale as far as I can tell. The link talks about their "platform" and it doesn't sound like a complete unit. Please show where they are selling them and placing them in people's homes like Colin Angle said he wanted to do. All I show in the "brochure" were pictures of Potential Applications.
Too funny!
Apparently iRobot disagrees.
http://www.irobot.com/ava/
Ava. According to Colin Angle they have been working on Ava to be used in the home for over 20 years. What could possibly be taking so long? I would say that project is no longer viable.
Wow, people hate their Roombas and the lack of response they receive from IRobot. Check this out for scathing reviews:
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/homeowners/irobot.html
"I join the ranks of thousands of others who have had problems with their product after a short period of use. My Roomba was used about 12 times over the course of 2 years and the battery went punk. The company said to go punt essentially. I'm out of $300.00."
"I have had problems with iRobot systems and customer service for several years. I have bought about 4 different robots and all of them only worked for a couple of weeks to a maximum of 3 months. iRobot does not have a repair center therefore they make their clients troubleshoot this poorly engineered vacuums over the phone."
"I have spent numerous hours going over troubleshooting and nothing was ever fixed. They have gotten to the extent of sending me what I believe was a refurbished unit that did not work either! All of this happened when I lived in California with my family. I'm now in PA and after opening all the boxes from the move, I found the bad Roombas and sparked the interest of trying to see if any of poorly made machines worked, after a full charge given, one went into circles and another went really slow and so long. No carpet or floors were cleaned as usual."
"I called Roomba Customer Service and kept an open mind, thinking that maybe I can exchange the four I have for one that works, but now they are out of warranty and conveniently they only have records of what they wanted to keep with only one machine registered. However, they mentioned that one was sent to me in 2007. I told them that it never worked so they asked me again to troubleshoot the unit and of course after using compressors to blow out the dust, it still never worked. The unit is brand new, why should I blow dust out of it? Nonsense In case someone wants to file a class complaint, please let me know. I believe just by reading this post there are thousands of people with similar issues. I will be willing to talk to an attorney if anyone would be willing to pick up the case and get a new system to the people that have similar problems or whatever is necessary to do."
"I am astounded that Colin Angle, as the CEO of a large consumer products manufacturer, would not list an email address so that he could receive emails from his customers. Perhaps, it is because of the point of view engendered by an engineering background that puts things ahead of human beings. When my Roomba 560 began to whine and thump, despite regular careful cleaning after only five months of use, I called Customer Service and was told I needed to replace the brush assembly. When I mentioned that one user on a complaints website mentioned that to clean the 560 thoroughly, the brush assembly has to be removed, the customer service rep told me that iRobot discouraged such a disassembly so I did not do it.
I was then sold a replacement brush assembly, which it was claimed would cure the problem. Upon receiving it, I removed the old assembly and found dog hair around the gears. Instead of installing the new assembly, I cleaned and reinstalled the old one and found that it worked fine and that I did not need the replacement (at least, not yet). In addition, the front wheel fell out of its housing because the plastic gave way after twenty or thirty removals of the wheel to clean it, as the instructions required. I was told by a customer service rep, after complaining that I should not remove the wheel, but clean the axle with it in place. Lots of luck with that! So I had to buy another wheel assembly!"
"I purchased an iRobot Roomba 535 brand new from Woot.com in March of '09. About six months after the warranty expired, the Roomba started malfunctioning with the "9 beep error." This is a very well-documented error for this particular model (the 500 series) as evidenced by over 200 posts here: **. Same as the other complaints below regarding this model, I also attempted the "fixes" listed on the website to fix the issue, but to no avail. iRobot stated that there is no way to repair it. I only have to buy a new one for $150. What's a real kicker here is that iRobot refuses to offer an extended warranty for the replacement. I can understand that this is barely out of warranty. However, because this is such a well-documented design defect, I believe that my Roomba should be repaired free of charged or replaced with a non-defective model."
A few more of the latest Amazon reviews. Wow, people love their Roombas.
5.0 out of 5 stars iRobot Roomba, August 6, 2012
By LibbyT - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: iRobot Roomba 770 Vacuum Cleaning Robot (Misc.)
I love my Roomba. Works great for picking up dog and cat hair from carpet, wood, and tile floors. When a part broke I filed an online complaint and received the replacement in the mail at no charge.
-------
5.0 out of 5 stars All that I'd hoped for, August 6, 2012
By erica (Columbus, Ohio) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: iRobot Roomba 770 Vacuum Cleaning Robot (Misc.)
These reviews helped me take the plunge, so I thought I'd add my own.
This was easy to set up -- it was already cleaning my floor as I sat to watch the video. As a test I ran my upright (not a Dyson; more like "top of the line Wal-Mart" quality) to see if the Roomba would find more. It did -- partly because it could reach places I couldn't, like under heavy furniture or right up next to the walls; but even the main traffic areas seemed noticeably cleaner. I think it's just persistent. As other reviewers have noted, it is also quiet. That's a big plus for me.
I have long hair. On my upright vacuums the brushes were hard enough to get to that I usually waited for that burning smell. On the Roomba the brushes and filters are very easy to get to. One of the cleaning tools provided has a small blade that slices through the hair so I can brush it off. A can of compressed air seems perfect for the filters. As advertised, the invisible walls work well and it doesn't fall down the stairs.
The reason I wanted this product is that my husband and I are busy enough that we don't prioritize housecleaning. With this aspect I'm thrilled. Because the Roomba is going to go right up to areas I would avoid, I spend a good bit of time clearing clutter that would be in its path. I also spend more time cleaning the brushes, as I said above. In all I am spending about as much time on vacuuming as I would have with the upright, but the results are so much better: I've been forced to clear the clutter, the carpet is cleaner, there's less dust, and since the brushes are being cleaned I hope it will last longer.
(Thank you iRobot!)
--------
5.0 out of 5 stars first impressions, August 3, 2012
By Denis - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: iRobot Roomba 770 Vacuum Cleaning Robot (Misc.)
good assistant for cleaning the apartment. Only wash the floors and to clean the roomba on'e a week. it very smart item. it studied the first week of work. then clean more quickly and did not stick. We program to clean 3 time a week. I think it's enough.
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5.0 out of 5 stars My new hero, July 31, 2012
By Earl - See all my reviews
This review is from: iRobot Roomba 770 Vacuum Cleaning Robot (Misc.)
This does everything I am to lazy to do...IE...vacuum. I turn it on when I leave and empty it when I get home. My floors have never been cleaner. I Love it.
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5.0 out of 5 stars I LOVE THIS THING., July 26, 2012
By Nettabird (Champaign, IL USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: iRobot Roomba 770 Vacuum Cleaning Robot (Misc.)
This is awesome! I hit the button when my toddler (who is afraid of it, but she'll get used to it) and I leave the apartment and when we come back there are fresh vacuum lines all over the carpets! Helps me keep clutter off the floor, too, since I know it's going to hit everywhere. Now I'm looking at a scooba too. Soon as I have more than 20 square feet of linoleum...
Here's how it decides which way to go, since I know a lot of people are confused: it's random, which *is* the most efficient method for a computer to figure out how to cover an entire floor, according to my husband who works in computer science. It's an easy enough problem in computer science to make an algorithm for figuring out how to determine if an obstacle is a wall or a chair leg, so it does that too. You might think it would be more efficient to map out the room and then just go back and forth, but it's actually really difficult to develop the step-by-step method that a computer needs in order to figure that out. Plus, you'd have to leave everything in exactly the same place.
I've seen complaints on some Roomba reviews about how you have to clean the brushes and filter every week, and how often you have to empty the bin. I don't get it. This thing VACUUMS YOUR FLOORS FOR YOU. You have to do the same maintenance on a vacuum that requires you to push it across the floor. Such a shame that the makers of this ROBOT IN YOUR HOME are still bound by the laws of physics and current computer technology...
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
-------------
http://www.amazon.com/iRobot-Roomba-Vacuum-Cleaning-Robot/product-reviews/B005GK3IVW/ref=cm_cr_dp_see_all_summary?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending
Excellent question. Looks like lots of investors got screwed.
And still DOWN over 20% since IPO?
Why is that?
Not enough allergy sufferers must be the problem!
Correct?
Yus' axin'
Your BFF,
WhisperingBomb
A life changing product! WOW!!!
5.0 out of 5 stars Life changing product! May 15, 2012
By Sammy
I am 41 years old and have had allergies my entire life - they have gotten worse over the past 5 years. I already take Singulair and Claritin but still have symptoms. I was just diagnosed with asthma, which apparently was caused by my allergies. Thus, I decided to wage war on indoor allergies in my house.
I hired a cleaning company to clean my house a few years ago - they were horrible. I did a better job then they did. Also, I have pets and am not comfortable with someone being in my house with them when I am not there. My problem is time - I work full time and was finding little time to vacuum (to the point where I was vacuuming only once every week or other week). I have 3 cats and one dog, with hardwood floors and area rugs on my first floor and carpet in my bedroom and hallway upstairs. My house was not clean, to say the least. I just couldn't keep up with it.
My brother suggested that I purchase this product. I thought, why not? I did not buy this on Amazon because they did not offer the 770 model at the time of my purchase (in April 2012) or I would have - I bought it from the iRobot website.
This model offers a vacuum with HEPA filters in the dust cartridge. Please note that the low cost models like the Mint are not vacuums! They just push around a dusting cloth to collect dust. This would not meet my requirements, for obvious reasons. This product also has a schedule so I can tell it to start vacuuming at a certain time each day. You can also start the cleaning manually at any time but pushing a button.
It's not loud - much quieter than a regular vacuum and I can be watching TV in this room and it's vacuuming in the next room - would be too loud to watch TV if it were running in the same room. And, my cats and my dog were not afraid of it at all. They can be in the same room with it with no issues. It moves slowly so it it is coming towards them, they just move out of the way.
It comes with an instructional DVD which you don't really need as it's pretty easy to figure out. It runs for up to 3 hours on a charge, and will take itself back to its docking station if it needs to recharge and when it's done cleaning. It has cliff sensors so it knows it it is near steps, for example, and will not fall down! It also has a dirt sensor and will go over an area repeatedly if it finds a lot of dirt until it's clean.
The dust bin is a good size - I have yet to fill it up to the point where the vacuum can't go on until I empty it (it has a dust bin light which turns on to tell you if it's full). But, this is not meant to catch the same amount of dirt as you would have if you vacuumed every week or two - this is intended to be used for regular maintenance (every day or two) so it doesn't need to have the same size dust bin as a regular vacuum.
I have a Dyson Canister vac and this product works better than that for many reasons. First, it takes the time to clean the floors - as long as it needs and will go over an area until it's clean. Also, it has an edge cleaning tool built in and cleans along edges (for example, against the wall) well. I have a 2600 square foot house and I couldn't even clean one floor in 8 hours before, since I was rushing to vacuum, dust, etc. in the one day that I had on the weekend to clean.
Since purchasing this product, my asthma has improved significantly and my house is spotless! I loved it so much that I bought another one for the second floor. And, I have found that I dust much less - I used to have to dust every few days (and didn't, ended up doing this once a week if I found the time) and now, I dust every 3 weeks!
This is a life changing product for me. Yes, it's expensive but it costs about the same as my Dyson and it does all of the work for me. I highly recommend this product!"
http://www.amazon.com/review/RPUPNAA5WYWSA/ref=cm_cr_pr_viewpnt#RPUPNAA5WYWSA
So why is IRBT selling over 20% below it's IPO price?
Well?
Yus' axin'
Your BFF,
WhisperingBomb
ROFLMAO. Show me a product with 100% customer satisfaction and I'll show you a product with zero sales.
Amazon customers LOVE them, everyone one I know with one LOVES it and they sell hundreds of millions of dollars worth of them every year.
Check out this review site http://www.robotics-technology-simplified.com/roomba-reviews.html - especially the bottom ratings summary. One model has a poor rating (2.5 out of 5). Every other one has 4.5 out of 5.
Seems almost everyone LOVES their Roomba!
Simply not true. All anyone has to do is google "Roomba complaints" and numerous complaint sites come up. One person has even complained to their state Attorney General's office. Like I said, the company has made a lot of money off of a toy that only works for a little while. They never respond to complaints by their customers because they don't care about those customers. All they care about is making money; doesn't matter if they have satisfied customers or not.
LOL, and yet iRBT had almost half a billion dollars in revenue last year, #50 million in pre-tax income and has a market cap of 2/3 of a billion dollars.
I've had a Roomba red for almost 6 years now and aside from needing a new battery every couple of years, it still does an amazing job cleaning.
The only products that don't have complaints about them are the ones that aren't sold to anyone.
Check out the latest Roomba at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/iRobot-Roomba-Vacuum-Cleaning-Robot/dp/B005GK3IVW/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1344448843&sr=8-2&keywords=roomba
4+ stars from customers. Almost unheard of for a tech product on Amazon!!!
The Roomba is a joke! There are numerous complaints about IRobot's Roomba. This company has screwed so many people just to make a buck. My Roomba lasted about 2 months. BTW, it is not a vacuum, it is a sweeeper.
Many complaints out there from customers but IRobot doesn't care. They don't even bother to answer customer complaints. One person has filed their complaint with Minnesota's Attorney General's office.
Here is just one internet site with complaints; there are many more:
http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/roomba-c506709.html
Company upped its full year income projections by 5-20%.
Looks like things are going well at iRobot.
http://ih.advfn.com/p.php?pid=nmona&article=53578282
You're not looking at the breakdown between consumer and others. Consumer has 50% margins.
You're right, could be a nice short squeeze too.
I think you've talked me into opening a small position! Thanks.
Do they consider themselves an R&D company?
I'm seeing their margins a little lower, at about 40% and a short interest of 13.60%. The SI is very high in comparison to their peers and industry.
*Last update received Mar 31, 2012.
No dividend. R&D companies with high growth rates rarely do. Smart move.
50% margin is from the 2011 10K, most recent.
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