iRobot 2010 Annual Report Download - page 49

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PART I
ITEM 1. BUSINESS
This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements
of historical facts contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including statements regarding our future results
of operations and financial position, business strategy, plans and objectives of management for future operations,
and plans for product development and manufacturing are forward-looking statements. These statements involve
known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or
achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied
by the forward-looking statements. We discuss certain of these risks in greater detail in the “Risk Factors” section
and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Also, these forward-looking statements speak only as of the date
of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, and we have no plans to update our forward-looking statements to reflect
events or circumstances occurring after the date of this Annual Report. We caution readers not to place undue
reliance upon any such forward-looking statements.
iRobot, Roomba, Scooba, iRobot Dirt Dog, PackBot, Warrior, Looj, Verro, Create, Negotiator, Virtual Wall,
Home Base, and Aware are trademarks of iRobot Corporation.
Overview
iRobot Corporation (“iRobot” or the “Company” or “we”) designs and builds robots that make a difference.
For over 20 years, we have developed proprietary technology incorporating advanced concepts in navigation,
mobility, manipulation and artificial intelligence to build industry-leading robots. Our home care robots perform
time-consuming domestic chores while our government and industrial robots perform tasks such as battlefield
reconnaissance and bomb disposal, multi-purpose tasks for local police and first responders, and long-endurance
oceanic missions. We sell our robots to consumers through a variety of distribution channels, including chain stores
and other national retailers, and through our on-line store, and to the U.S. military and other government agencies
worldwide. We maintain certifications for AS9100 and Capability Maturity Model Integration, or CMMI, which
enable us to service our military products and services.
Since our founding, we have accumulated expertise in all the disciplines necessary to design and build durable,
high-performance and cost-effective robots through the close integration of software, electronics and hardware. Our
core technologies serve as reusable building blocks that we adapt and expand to develop next generation and new
products, reducing the time, cost and risk of product development. Our significant expertise in robot design and
engineering, combined with our management team’s experience in military and consumer markets, positions us to
capitalize on the growth we expect in the market for robot-based products. We believe that the sophisticated
technologies in our existing consumer and military applications are adaptable to a broad array of markets such as
law enforcement, homeland security, commercial cleaning, elder care, oil services, home automation, landscaping,
agriculture, construction and other vertical markets.
Over the past eight years, we sold approximately 6 million of our home care robots. We also sold during that
time more than 3,500 of our tactical military robots, most of which have been sold to the U.S. military and deployed
on missions in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Strategy
Our goal is to design and build innovative robots that make a difference and are adaptable for use in a broad
range of applications. We intend to increase the penetration of our products in existing markets, expand existing
products into new markets, and develop and launch new products into current and adjacent markets. Our strategy is
to maintain a leadership position by quickly delivering robotic technology-based remote presence and automated
home maintenance solutions that delight our customers and anticipate their needs, while extending our technical
leadership in the areas of robot autonomy, manipulation and platforms. Remote presence is the core of our military
robots which save lives by keeping warfighters at safe standoff distances from hazards while they perform
dangerous, difficult and persistent missions. With increasing levels of autonomy, continued mobility improvements,
more sophisticated sensor suites and advanced human interfaces, remote presence systems will expand in
3
Form 10-K