Apr 07, 2023 11:56:00

Amazon's acquisition of Rumba's developer for 220 billion yen will be investigated by regulatory authorities

The British

Competition and Market Authority (CMA), which is equivalent to Japan's Fair Trade Commission, has launched an investigation into Amazon's acquisition of iRobot , the developer of robot vacuum cleaners and rumba.

CMA to investigate Amazon's $1.7bn takeover of Roomba firm | Amazon | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/apr/06/cma-to-investigate-amazon-17bn-takeover-of-roomba-irobot

In August 2022, Amazon announced that it had acquired iRobot for about $1.7 billion (about 220 billion yen).

Amazon to acquire iRobot developed by robot vacuum cleaner 'Rumba' for about 230 billion yen - GIGAZINE

iRobot sells products all over the world, including the UK, and its main products are robot vacuum cleaners such as 'Rumba i7 +'. By connecting to the network, Roomba can automatically create a room map and schedule room cleaning.

Rumba's latest flagship model 'Rumba i7 +' review, complete robot vacuum cleaner equipped with a fully automatic garbage collector 'Clean Base' that can be disposed of without seeing garbage - GIGAZINE

Amazon not only owns the smart home brand Ring , but also develops smart speakers equipped with voice assistant Alexa and home monitoring robot Astro . As such, Amazon's acquisition of iRobot is seen as a strategy to further expand the company's smart home business.

In response, the CMA said Amazon's acquisition of iRobot could give Amazon a lead in the smart home market and 'could become an obstacle to competition in the UK market for goods and services.' ” warns.

Foxglove Legal, a UK-based technology monitoring group, told the CMA, 'Amazon is already spying on our doorsteps (with Ring) and tapping our dinner conversations (with Echo smart speakers). If iRobot's acquisition is successful, Amazon's surveillance eyes will creep up to our living room.'

An Amazon spokesperson said of the CMA acquisition investigation, ``We believe that by bringing together our experience and iRobot's amazing products, we will be able to increase customer choice and benefit customers when purchasing vacuum cleaners. 'We are working closely with the relevant authorities in reviewing the acquisition.'

CMA is seeking comments from ``all interested parties'' about Amazon's acquisition of iRobot, and there is no deadline for submitting comments at the time of writing the article.

The Federal Trade Commission of the United States has already started investigating Amazon's acquisition of iRobot, and the European Commission has also sent a letter of inquiry to Amazon as a preliminary stage of the investigation.