Atlantic International Partnership Headlines: Robotics morphs into more-mainstream investment

http://altlantic-internationalpartnership.com/2011/05/atlantic-international-partnership-headlines-robotics-morphs-into-more-mainstream-investment/Of course, iRobot’s scientists do other things too. The company, best known for its Roomba floor vacuum, recently sent machines to Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant disaster to help detect radiation, to the war zone in Afghanistan to find bombs, and to the Gulf of Mexico to locate spilled oil in the water.
But home robots — dominated by vacuums — make up 55 percent of the company’s revenue and are part of the reason iRobot is on a tear. Shares are up 43 percent since the start of the year, and the company earned a profit of $26 million on sales of $401 million last year, up from $3 million on $299 million in revenue the year before.
The company recently announced it had won a contract to make bomb disposal robots for the Navy.
That iRobot, the only public company that focuses purely on robotics, is getting attention from investors indicates that this young industry is becoming more mainstream. As analysts and consumers get more comfortable with robots, more companies might succeed in the space.
“It’s almost like buying Internet companies in the 1990s,” said Alex Hamilton, an analyst with Early Bird Capital who covers iRobot. “The sky’s the limit.”
Not everyone is a fan. A 2008 Consumer Reports review of vacuums found that the Roomba 560 “was among the worst performers at cleaning edges and corners.” On consumer tech site CNET, comments ranged from “always broken, warranty poor” to “It’s awesome! Great for what it costs.”
The company is now trying to boost sales of secondary items, such as pool and gutter cleaners, to go along with its bestselling Roomba and Scooba robots.