iRobot made Roomba into an icon. Now, it’s in a huge mess

How did the creator of the iconic round robot vacuum—which has sold more than 50 million units—get into this mess?

Although there’s of course more than one answer to that question, a major factor seems to have been an ill-fated focus on dreaming up ways to move beyond the vacuum into new product categories—all the while failing to keep up with new competitors in its core business.

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