Army Cancels two Robotic Programs

The Army is canceling two robots in its brigade modernization program: two of three variants of the "MULE" robot and the "Fire Scout" unmanned aerial vehicle. The Hill has the story. One commenter called the modernization program with the EXCEPTION of the iRobot Small Unmanned Ground Vehicle (SUGV) a waste of money. He said the SUGV was "the only thing that seems to work."

Tags: iRobot, SUGV

Colin Angle makes the case for independence

iRobot's Colin Angle told the Boston Globe today that staying independent has its advantages versus selling your company to an out-of-state behemoth:

Excerpt:

“When the economy stumbles, it’s the branch offices that tend to suffer first,’’ says Colin Angle, chief executive of Bedford-based iRobot Corp. Branch offices tend to employ people already working in the area, whereas headquarters bring new talent to that city, says Angle.
And spinoffs, when employees leave to form new companies, also tend to happen more often around headquarters, Angle argues, naming four New England companies all founded by iRobot alumni.
Angle says that by starting a company in an emerging marketplace - mobile robots for the military, industry, and consumers - iRobot was able to remain independent. “If you’re in a well-understood marketplace, then there’s a well-understood acquisition formula,’’ he says.

Tags: iRobot, robot

IRBT drops in pre-market on JPMorgan downgrade

JPMorgan's Paul Coster, one of the closer followers of IRBT on the street (he usually gets to ask the first question at conference calls), has downgraded IRBT from neutral to underweight (sell), but upped his price target from $14 to $17. So how's that for mixed messages?

Memo to Coster: way to miss the 150% return on IRBT!

That said, Coster's nick appears to be denting IRBT in the premarket and may spur some profit-taking on our favorite robot company until we get more news.

With early SUGV contracts in hand, new Roomba products being rolled out with strong international growth and increasing prospects for a takeover from a large defense contractor (Boeing) or consumer products company (Microsoft, Hoover, Samsung) or combo platter, IRBT has been riding a wave rivaling that of iPhone maker Apple since the late 2008 fiscal crisis ended.

I don't have a JPMorgan account, so I don't know Coster's reasoning. Anybody who does have a JPMorgan account, feel free to post comment here on why he says he is downgrading.

Tags: iRobot, robot

iRobot Announces 5 Million Home Robots Sold

iRobot announced yesterday that the company has achieved another milestone, having sold over 5 million home robots to date.

It appears to me that means that they had a decent fourth quarter, and probably sold about 1 million home robots in 2009 alone. In 2008 press releases, they had been saying more than 3 million home robots...

I think the company sells about 7-10 Roombas for every non-Roomba product they sell, with the floor-washing Scooba their second-most successful product (and my personal favorite).

Tags: iRobot, Roomba