Vacuum Cleaners Discussions

CarmineD wrote:
The Roomba is not a REAL vacuum cleaner.  True, it may have a suction motor, but many toy vacuums have a suction motor as well, and most are twice as powerful.  Even that POS Oreck will remove more dirt than a Roomba, and just barely.  The Roomba is no more of a vacuum cleaner than the Swivel Sweeper.  Anyone who takes these things seriously must have some REALLY dirty rugs...

Hello Carmine, with all respect, I think justifying the Roomba's low sales figures because it's not a 'real' vacuum is missing the point. It's little more than a toy robot, that happens to be a surface cleaner.

I will concede that it appears to represent the best feature to value choice in the market at the moment and that's not to say that iRobot's trial and error won't lead to an improved product in the near future which could well be a replacement for the household cleaner. The reason I take issue is that, in this regard, they're much the same as Dyson. They're both launched products that might not be 100% perfect, but that if they strive too close to perfection each time, they're at risk of their R&D costs putting them out of the race for good. In summary, iRobot is allowed to launch products with shortcomings, but Dyson is not?

Hello M00seUK:

It is most definitely a surface cleaner.  And most robots these days are that: surface cleaners.  That's the reason in part I said they are used to supplement full sized user required vacuums.  As a supplement, I would not expect the sales to rival full sized vacuums.  They are not counted along with vacuum sales.  But in a specialty category for household appliances. 

iRobot for 14 years was in the business of making robotic bomb detonators.  Still does.  But it was unprofitable all the time.  Why? Because there was no pervasive demand for bomb detonators among the buying US public.  When it used the robotic technology to mass produce the Roomba in 2002, the company's profits soared.  First time in 14 years it did not run a loss.  The following spring, the privately held company went public at $12 per share.  Prices of the robotic vacuums went down with subsequent generations of models, due in part to the influx of investors' capital for the purchase of its stock.  Sales are and have been brisk [at least here in the USA].

iRobot owns the market for robotic vacuums in the USA.  And will I suspect for the near term.  There is no viable competition even close in performance, price, or sales.  All this in the same time [actually 6 months less] than the time dysons have been in the USA.  Roombas are number 1 in their class.    

Carmine D.

Hello M00seUK:

If you haven't seen, here is a link on the various household and garden products offered.  More importantly the number of products, on-line customer support to maintain all the products, and tips for use.  Very impressive to me. 

http://homesupport.irobot.com/cgi-bin/irobot_homesupport.cfg/php/enduser/home.php?clear_cookie=1

BTW, despite the economic market downturns and additional issuance of more irobot stock, which generally dilutes the stock market price, the iRobot share price has held steady at $12.50.  Not many stocks can make this claim so far even this year to date.  Most have seen stock hits of 10-20 percent.  Must be doing something right for everything wrong. 

Carmine D.

Dyson’s launched the Airblade in Canada.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080512.RDYSON12/TPStory/Business

 

 

Dyson on HSN (I have not idea what will be selling) this Friday and Saturday.

http://www.hsn.com/cnt/program_guide/default.aspx?typ=1&pg=0&disp=0&usai=0&date=5/16/2008

DysonInventsBig wrote:
Did you see my link? Dyson was on last week with the DC25 so maybe this week is the DC24...

Ace,

Yes, I saw your link, thanks.  I happened to catch the broadcast live, I hope to see the DC24 demoed soon too.        DIB

 

Chalk up 2 more free DC25 offers in the same day, a $500 product.  Same marketing research firm for both [BrandnameRewards.com Promotions, a limited liability corporation based in Boca Raton, Florida] but different from the others.  This firm adds the "cyclone' moniker to the dyson DC25 model.

If my count is correct this makes 9 in 4 weeks.  Will I get 10?  Week ain't over yet!

Carmine D.

The DC24 was launched on HSN.  More  "Dyson Innovations 2nd Anniversary shows" are airing on Friday and Sat.        DIB 

video demo:  http://home-solutions.hsn.com/dyson-the-ball-dc24-all-floors-lightweight-upright-vacuum_p-4115424_xp.aspx?web_id=4115424&ocm=sekw

schedule:  http://www.hsn.com/program-guide_xh.aspx?typ=1&pg=1&disp=0&print=0&date=05/16/2008

I have my DVR all set...