iRobot will miss its third-quarter earnings goal, but overall 2007 financial expectations remain on track, the company said Wednesday.
The company expects to announce revenue of between $63 million and $64 million, resulting in a pretax loss of $1 million to $1.5 million in the third quarter, CEO Colin Angle said in a statement.
Part of the blame for the disappointing quarter was placed on delayed production of iRobot's new Roomba 500 vacuum series.
"... the production ramp up by our new contract manufacturer was slower than our initial targeted projections and consequently, revenue from delayed shipments will be recognized in the fourth quarter," he said.
Angle also attributed the loss to unanticipated legal expenses related to iRobot's lawsuits against former employee Jameel Ahed and his company Robotic FX. iRobot is suing Robotic FX and Ahed, individually, for alleged patent infringement and misappropriation of privileged information regarding iRobot's PackBot military robot.
iRobot plans to officially announce its third-quarter results on October 24.
iRobot pretty much has both ends of the robot spectrum covered: cute, household cleaning robots and industrial-strength military robots. Monday's announcement that iRobot and Boeing will team up on a military/civilian/commercial robot falls somewhere in the middle.
(Credit:
iRobot)
The Small Unmanned Ground Vehicle, nicknamed SUGV Early, will weigh less than 30 pounds. That's smaller than iRobot's line of robots currently in use in the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts to search buildings, caves and tunnels and disarm Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs).
The SUGV Early will perform reconaissance and gather intelligence while operators stand out of harm's way. iRobot hopes the SUGV's smaller frame will mean more military units, law enforcement groups and first responders will be interested. Boeing's end of the deal will be to lend its expertise in systems integration and mass production, along with its global marketing reach.
The new SUGV is expected to be available next year.
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