Several Members of Congress Want to Block Amazon’s Acquisition of iRobot

Several members of the U.S. Congress issued a letter to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over the announced acquisition of iRobot Corporation by Amazon.com Inc.

Here’s why the lawmakers have concerns over the purchase.

What Happened

A letter recommending the FTC reject the planned acquisition of iRobot by Amazon.com was signed by some members of Congress.

“I have serious concerns about the Amazon-iRobot deal—dominant companies like Amazon shouldn’t be allowed to just buy their way out of competing,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) told Axios. “The FTC should oppose this proposed merger to protect competition, lower consumer prices, and rein in Amazon’s well-documented anticompetitive activities.”

The letter argued the acquisition could “harm consumers and reduce competition” in the home robotics segment.

“Given Amazon’s record of infringing on consumers’ privacy, and their ongoing history of anticompetitive mergers to increase their monopoly power, the FTC should use its authority to oppose the Amazon–iRobot transaction,” the letter read.

iRobot has a dominant market share in the smart vacuum market of around 75 percent, which could greatly impact competitors, according to the letter.

The iRobot acquisition came after Amazon made several acquisitions in the home appliances space, as pointed out by the letter. This included Blink and Ring.

The letter stated Amazon had a history of using a strategy of acquiring companies with strong market share and crushing its rivals by offering discounts and utilizing its huge customer base. The letter called this “copy-acquire-kill.”

Data privacy concerns were also mentioned in the letter with iRobot giving Amazon access to mapping technology inside consumers’ homes. The letter said the acquisition of iRobot combined with ownership of Ring and Blink would give Amazon “eyes and ears inside the homes.”

The letter was signed by Warren along with the following members of Congress:

Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.)
Rep. Mark Pocan