UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

 

Form 10-K

 

 

Commission file no. 000-51598

 

iROBOT CORPORATION

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

 

(781) 430-3000
(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

 

 

 

 

SECURITIES REGISTERED PURSUANT TO SECTION 12(b) OF THE ACT:
Common Stock, $0.01 par value per share   The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC

 

SECURITIES REGISTERED PURSUANT TO SECTION 12(g) OF THE ACT:
None

 

Indicate by check-mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.  Yes o     No þ

 

Indicate by check-mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.  Yes o     No þ

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant: (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.  Yes þ     No o

 

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K (§ 229.405 of this chapter) is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K.  o

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

 

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).  Yes o     No þ

 

The aggregate market value of the Common Stock held by nonaffiliates of the registrant was approximately $258,507,973 based on the last reported sale of the Common Stock on the NASDAQ Global Market on June 28, 2008.

 

As of February 5, 2009, there were 24,916,561 shares of the registrant’s Common Stock outstanding.

 

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

 

The registrant intends to file a definitive Proxy Statement pursuant to Regulation 14A within 120 days of the end of the fiscal year ended December 27, 2008. Portions of such Proxy Statement are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Form 10-K.

 

 

iROBOT CORPORATION

 

ANNUAL REPORT ON FORM 10-K

Year Ended December 27, 2008

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

 

 

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, 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 19 years, we have developed proprietary technology incorporating advanced concepts in navigation, mobility, manipulation and artificial intelligence to build industry-leading robots. Our Roomba floor vacuuming robots, Scooba floor washing robots and Looj gutter cleaning robot perform time-consuming domestic chores. Our PackBot and Small Unmanned Ground Vehicle (SUGV) tactical ground military robots perform battlefield reconnaissance and bomb disposal. Our Negotiator ground robot performs multi-purpose tasks for local police and first responders. Our Seaglider unmanned underwater robot performs 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.

 

Since our founding by roboticists who performed research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 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. For example, our proprietary AWARE Robot Intelligence Systems enable the behavioral control of robots. Our AWARE systems allow our Roomba floor vacuuming robot to clean an entire floor while avoiding obstacles and not falling down stairs, and also allow our PackBot robots to accomplish complex missions such as waypoint navigation and real-time obstacle avoidance.

 

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. Our strategy is to maintain a leadership position in pursuing new applications for robot solutions by leveraging our ability to innovate, to bring new products to market quickly, to reduce costs through design and outsourcing capabilities, and to commercialize the results of our research, much of which is government funded.

 

Over the past six years, we sold more than 4 million of our home care robots. We also sold during that time more than 2,200 of our PackBot tactical military robots, most of which have been sold to the U.S. military and deployed on missions in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Strategy

 

Our objective is to expand our leadership globally in designing and building practical robots and in developing robotic technology. Key elements of our strategy to achieve this objective include:

 

Continued Growth through Profitability, Operational Excellence and Customer Focus.  Our ability to continue to grow, to delight our customers with innovative products, and to deliver value and exceed end-user expectations depends on our ability to improve profitability and operating processes and to provide best-in-class service. We intend to consistently improve our profitability through disciplined allocation of resources and by reducing costs of materials, adjusting prices, optimizing our product and channel mix, focusing on our discretionary spending and reducing our seasonality. We will continue to focus on improving the scalability and efficiency of our supply chain process and our purchase and supply practices, and on mitigating single source supply exposure. We will identify, develop and enhance product features and functionality, as well as our ability to efficiently service customers who have problems, by enhancing customer outreach and surveys, and investigating and aggressively focusing on product reliability.

 

Deliver Great Products and Continue to Expand Our Existing Markets.  Our success is built upon our ability to deliver a broad range of innovative products rapidly at economical price points and to offer a broad product line to our customers. Within the consumer market, we offer floor cleaning products for various surfaces at multiple price points, a gutter cleaning product, a pool cleaning product, and a number of product accessories. We are extending our military robot offerings. In addition, we intend to leverage our increasing installed base to expand our revenues from recurring sales of consumables, services and support.

 

Innovate to Penetrate New Markets.  Our goal is to design and build innovative robots that make a difference. We develop robots with functionalities that 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. For example, we are fostering the emerging UUV (unmanned underwater vehicle) market and continuing to grow our international markets.

 

Leverage Research and Development Across Different Products and Markets.  We leverage our research and development across all of our products and markets. For example, we use technological expertise developed through government-funded research and development projects across our other product development efforts. Similarly, expertise developed while designing consumer products is used in designing products for government and industrial applications. This strategy helps us in avoiding the need to start each robot project from scratch, developing robots in a cost-effective manner and minimizing time to market.

 

Continue to Strengthen Our Brand.  We intend to continue to enhance our brand image and corporate identity. The iRobot brand is designed to communicate innovation, reliability, safety and value. Our robots’ performance and uniqueness have enabled us to obtain strong word-of-mouth and extensive press coverage leading to increasing brand awareness, brand personality and momentum. We intend to continue to invest in our marketing programs to strengthen our brand recognition and reinforce our message of innovation, reliability, safety and value.

 

Complement Core Competencies with Strategic Alliances.  Our core competencies are the design, development and marketing of robots. We rely on strategic alliances to provide complementary competencies that we integrate into our products and to enhance market access. For example, our alliance with The Boeing Company allows us to accelerate product development of the SUGV, through extensive use of Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) components; our alliance with Advanced Scientific Concepts, Inc. allows us to integrate LADAR technology for navigation and mapping applications into our autonomous vehicles; and our alliance with TASER International, Inc. allows us to integrate TASER electronic control devices, built on our PackBot robot platforms. We outsource other non-core activities, such as manufacturing and back-office functions, which helps us focus our resources on our core competencies.

 

Develop a Community of Third-Party Developers Around Our Platforms.  We have developed products around which communities of third-party developers can create related accessories, software and complementary products. We intend to foster this community by making our products into extensible platforms with open interfaces designed to carry payloads. For example, our robots are designed to allow third-party designers to add sensors and other functionalities, such as acoustic sniper detection and web-based control.

Develop Employees and Culture of Accountability.  We intend to continue to hire only top talent and to invest in our employees through training and on-the-job experience. We will develop innovative people plans to become the employer of choice. In addition, we will foster a culture among our employees of accountability, trust and mutual reliance by closely tracking important employee milestones and metrics, expanding rewards and recognition for top performers, and better leveraging our stock option program.

 

Technology

 

We are focused on behavior-based, artificially-intelligent systems developed to meet customer requirements in multiple market segments. In contrast to robotic manufacturing equipment or entertainment systems that are designed to repeat actions in specific, known environments, our systems are designed to complete missions in complex and dynamic real-world environments.

 

Our robots rely on the interplay among behavior-based artificially intelligent systems, real-world dynamic sensors, user-friendly interfaces and tightly-integrated, electromechanical designs to accomplish their missions efficiently.

 

AWARE Robot Intelligence Systems.  Our proprietary AWARE Robot Intelligence Systems are code bases that enable the behavioral control of robots. Moreover, the AWARE systems include modules that control behaviors, sensor fusion, power management and communication. Our AWARE systems allow our Roomba floor vacuuming robot and our Scooba floor washing robot to clean an entire floor while avoiding obstacles and not falling down stairs, and also allow our PackBot robots and our other unmanned ground vehicles to accomplish complex missions such as waypoint navigation and real-time obstacle avoidance.

 

Real-World, Dynamic Sensing.  The degree of intelligence that our robots display is directly attributable to their ability to perceive — or sense — the world around them. Using specialized hardware and signal processing, we have developed sensors that fit particular cost-performance criteria. In other cases, we use off-the-shelf sensing hardware, such as laser scanners, cameras and optical sensors. We have the exclusive right from Advanced Scientifics Concepts, Inc. to use its LADAR, technology for unmanned ground vehicles and robots. This LADAR technology is a next-generation solid state sensor that marks an important advancement for navigation and mapping applications for all autonomous vehicles. Additionally, we have an agreement with ICx Technologies to integrate its explosive-detecting technology into our PackBot platform. The payload, called the ICx Fido for iRobot PackBot 500, can detect explosive vapors emanating from Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs).

 

User-Friendly Interfaces.  Our robots require that users interact and instruct our robots in intuitive ways without extensive end-user set-up, installation, training or instruction. For example, our Roomba robots require only one button to have the robot begin its mission, determine the size of the room to be cleaned, thoroughly clean the room and return to its re-charger, right out of the box without any pre-programmed knowledge of the user’s home. Similarly, our PackBot robots use intuitive controllers, interoperable between systems, that integrate high-level supervisory commands from the user into the behaviors of the robot.

 

Tightly-Integrated, Electromechanical Design.  Our products rely on our ability to build inherently robust integrated electrical and mechanical components into required form factors. For instance, the computer that powers the PackBot tactical military robot must withstand being dropped from more than ten feet onto concrete. Such high performance specifications require tight design integration.

 

Combining these four components, we have created proprietary, reusable building blocks of robotics capabilities, including mobility platforms, manipulators, navigation and control algorithms and user interfaces. Our technology building blocks typically allow us to take a known platform and modify it for a new mission instead of starting from scratch for each application. We believe this allows us to design and develop innovative robots cost-effectively.

Products and Development Contracts

 

We design and build robots for the consumer and government and industrial markets. With nearly two decades of leadership in the robot industry, we remain committed to establishing robot and software platforms for invention and discovery, building key partnerships to develop mission-critical payloads and creating robots that improve the standards of safety and living worldwide.

 

Consumer Products

 

We sell various products that are designed for use in and around the home. Our current consumer products are focused on both indoor and outdoor cleaning applications. We believe our consumer products provide value to our customers by delivering better cleaning solutions at an affordable price and by freeing people from repetitive home cleaning tasks.

 

Home Floor Cleaning Robots

 

Over the past six years, we sold more than 4 million home floor cleaning robots. We currently offer multiple Roomba floor vacuuming robots and Scooba floor washing robots with varying price points and performance characteristics.

 

Our Roomba robot’s compact disc shape allows it to clean under beds and other furniture, resulting in cleaner floors since the Roomba can access more of the floor than standard upright vacuum cleaners. Roomba is programmed to keep operating until the floor is clean. In addition, Roomba eliminates the need to push a vacuum — it cleans automatically upon the push of a button.

 

We offer multiple Roomba models with various features. The suggested retail price for the Roomba robots range from $129 to $549 depending on model, configuration and accessory packages.

 

Scooba, our second major consumer product line, is the first floor washing robot available for home use. Our Scooba robot utilizes the expertise gained from years of Roomba development to create a robot that scrubs your floor.

 

Our Scooba robot’s innovative cleaning process allows the robot to simultaneously sweep, wash, scrub and dry hard floors, all at the touch of a button. Unlike a conventional mop that spreads dirty water on the floor, Scooba will apply only fresh water and cleaning solution to the floor from a clean tank. Scooba will clean dirt and grime, and is safe for use on all sealed, hard floor surfaces, including wood and tile.

 

Scooba has the ability to navigate around the room using a light-touch bumper and is smart enough to avoid carpets. Scooba features an advanced diagnostic system to provide the user with important maintenance feedback and improve user experience and product life. The suggested retail price for the Scooba robots range from $249 to $499.

 

Pool Cleaning Robots

 

Our Verro Pool Cleaning Robot is used to clean a standard size pool in about an hour while removing debris as small as two microns from the pool floor, walls and stairs. Verro is brought to market under the iRobot brand through a relationship with the Aqua Products Group companies including AquaJet LLC and Aquatron, Inc., which developed the pool cleaning robots. There are three models available with a range of suggested retail prices from $399 to $999.

 

Gutter Cleaning Robot

 

Our Looj Gutter Cleaning Robot was designed to simplify the difficult and dangerous job of gutter cleaning. The Looj cleans an entire stretch of gutter, reducing the number of times a ladder must be repositioned and climbed during gutter cleaning. The 2.25-inch high Looj drives under gutter straps propelled by a three-stage auger that dislodges and sweeps out dirt, leaves and other debris that can cause costly water damage, overspills and ice dams.

The Looj also features a detachable handle that doubles as a wireless remote control, providing full control of the robot while cleaning. The suggested retail price for the Looj ranges from $99 to $129.

 

Programmable Robot

 

Our Create Programmable Robot is a fully assembled programmable robot. The Create has ten built-in demos and 32 sensors that allow users to experiment with robotics. An open cargo bay allows the user to add their own grippers, wireless connections, computers or other hardware. The Create is based on the iRobot Roomba technology and is compatible with Roomba’s re-chargeable batteries, remote control and other accessories. The suggested retail price for the Create ranges from $129 to $299.

 

Government and Industrial Products

 

In government and industrial product markets, we currently offer both ground and underwater unmanned vehicles. Our tactical ground robots include the combat-tested PackBot and PackBot 510 line of small, unmanned ground robots, the Small Unmanned Ground Vehicle SUGV 300 series multi-purpose ground robots and the low-cost Negotiator for local police and first responders. Our unmanned underwater system, the Seaglider is used on long endurance oceanic missions. The PackBot, SUGV, and Negotiator robot series make up a family of robots using many common platform components and offer our patented flipper technology that enables robots to easily climb stairs, navigate rubble, and penetrate inaccessible areas. The robots are currently priced between approximately $20,000 and $195,000 per unit, depending on configuration and quantities ordered. As of December 2008, more than 2,200 PackBot robots have been delivered to military and civil defense forces worldwide. Our government and industrial robots are designed for high-performance, durability and ease of use while performing search, reconnaissance, mapping, bomb disposal and other dangerous missions.

 

In 2008, we continued to refine the PackBot product line, focusing on enhanced modularity and new capabilities to support new mission areas. Our unique AWARE 2.0 software was successfully incorporated into the advanced PackBot 510 chassis. As a result, PackBot can now support multiple configurations and payloads with the same chassis, and customers have a single robot capable of multiple missions. Additionally, the PackBot line expanded to include the following configurations targeted to state and local first responders, Army and Marine Corps Combat Engineers, and others.

 

iRobot PackBot 510 with EOD Kit.  This advanced robot quickly adapts to different Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), and conventional ordnance, keeping Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) personnel at safe stand-off distances. It features an enhanced chassis, improved manipulator, simplified hand controller and four cameras, making it faster, stronger and easier to-use. Relative to the PackBot 500 EOD, the more powerful manipulator doubles lifting, carrying and manipulation capacity.

 

iRobot PackBot 510 with FasTac Kit.  This multi-mission robot was specifically designed for combat infantry forces and is used in combat now by maneuver and maneuver support units for a variety of tasks. It investigates suspicious objects and identifies roadside bombs, unexploded ordnance, and other IEDs, while keeping troops at safe standoff distances. FasTac’s lighter weight and multi-mission capability extend route clearance capabilities to the infantry squad and bring the life-saving advantages of ground robots to the average infantryman.

 

iRobot PackBot 510 with First Responder Kit.  This configuration provides a lower price alternative for state and local customers who may not need all the capability of the PackBot 510 with EOD Kit. Additionally, this configuration provides users with an off-the-shelf smaller and lighter ruggedized laptop control unit.

 

iRobot PackBot 510 with Engineer Kit.  This kit is based on the First Responder Kit but also includes tools for the Engineer mission and a lift kit to lift heavier items. Additionally, the Engineer Kit supports an optional thermal camera.

 

We also offer more than 60 accessories for the PackBot that provide additional capabilities for the robot, expanding its range and scope of missions.

We continue to sell and support the PackBot 500 line for certain government customers. These configurations include:

 

iRobot PackBot EOD.  PackBot EOD is a rugged, lightweight robot designed to conduct explosive ordnance disposal, hazardous materials, search-and-surveillance and other vital law enforcement tasks for bomb squads, SWAT teams, military units and other authorities. PackBot EOD can handle a full range of IEDs and conventional ordnance disposal challenges. Our PackBot EOD robot’s lightweight and rugged OmniReach Manipulator System can extend up to six feet to safely disrupt improvised explosive devices, military ordnance, land mines and other incendiary devices.

 

iRobot PackBot with ICx Fido Explosives Detection Kit.  This explosives-sniffing robot screens packages and other potentially dangerous items while the operator remains at a safe distance. With all-terrain capability that enables it to go virtually anywhere, the robot places ultra-sensitive detectors close to suspicious items and determines within seconds if they are hazardous or harmless. The iRobot PackBot with ICx Fido Explosives Detection Kit is an advanced security solution that also pinpoints people involved in the construction and deployment of explosive devices.

 

iRobot Negotiator 200.  In 2008, we introduced the Negotiator 200 with Civil Response Kit.  This rugged robot performs basic reconnaissance for public safety professionals, increasing situational awareness in high-risk scenarios, including bomb identification, hostage situations, search and rescue and other dangerous missions. Negotiator easily climbs stairs, maneuvers through otherwise inaccessible areas and provides the operator with real-time video and two-way audio. Negotiator is designed to minimize training requirements and its compact, lightweight design allows the operator to easily deploy it from any response vehicle. Negotiator’s lower cost makes it ideal for civil response operations such as: SWAT, First Responders, Bomb Squads, Surveillance, Reconnaissance and Hazardous Material Detection.

 

Seaglider.  This Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (UUV) is used on long endurance oceanic missions to measure temperature, salinity, depth-averaged current and other measurements of interest to physical oceanographers and military planners. Seagliders are typically deployed on autonomous missions for six months or more, replacing manned research vessels at considerable economic advantage. Seagliders use satellite data telemetry to receive commands and send the measurements it collects each time it surfaces during its mission. The Seaglider technology, which we license from the University of Washington, has a history of open ocean reliable performance. More than 80 Seagliders have been built and delivered by the University of Washington, of which the U.S. Navy’s Naval Oceanographer has purchased 11. We expect to begin delivering Seagliders in the second half of 2009.

 

Contract Research and Development Projects

 

We are involved in several contract development projects with various U.S. governmental agencies and departments. The durations of these projects range from a few months to several years. These projects are usually funded as either cost-plus arrangements, firm fixed price, or time and materials contracts. In a cost-plus contract, we are allowed to recover our actual costs plus a fixed fee. The total price on a cost-plus contract is based primarily on allowable costs incurred, but generally is subject to a maximum contract funding limit. Under a firm fixed price contract, we receive a fixed amount upon satisfying contractually defined deliverables. On our time and materials contracts, we recover a specific amount per hour worked based on a bill rate schedule, plus the cost of direct materials, subcontracts, and other non-labor costs, including an agreed-upon mark-up. A time and materials contract may provide for a not-to-exceed price ceiling, as well as the potential that we will absorb any cost overrun.

 

Government funding is provided to further the development of robot technologies to solve various in-field challenges and with the expectation that if the projects result in the development of technically viable prototypes, then the government will purchase multiple production units for future use in the field. The government funding that we receive allows us to accelerate the development of multiple technologies. While the U.S. government retains certain rights to military projects that it has funded, such as the right to use inventions and disclose technical data relating to those projects without constraining the recipient’s use of that data, we retain ownership of patents and know-how and are generally free to develop other commercial products, including consumer and industrial products, utilizing the technologies developed during these projects. The rights which the government retains, however, may allow it to provide use of patent rights and know-how to others, and some of the know-how might be

used by these third parties for their own development of consumer and industrial products. The contract development projects that we are currently undertaking include, but are not limited to:

 

Small Unmanned Ground Vehicle and Centralized Controller Device.  Future Combat Systems (FCS) is a major program intended to transform the U.S. Army to be strategically responsive and dominant at every point on the spectrum of operations, through real-time network centric communications and systems of a family of manned vehicles and unmanned platforms by the next decade. The FCS program combines advanced technologies, organizations, people and processes with concepts to create new sources of military power that are more responsive, deployable, agile, versatile, lethal, survivable and sustainable. The FCS system of systems is designed to provide increased strategic responsiveness, adaptive modular organizations, and units of action with three to seven days of self-sustainment.

 

Our specific role in the FCS program is to design and develop the SUGV, which is intended to be the “soldier’s robot.” The SUGV is expected to be a light-weight, man-portable robot that will support reconnaissance, remote sensing and urban warfare. Based on input from soldiers and commanders in the field, to focus on infantry first, the Army moved to more aggressively support current operations with FCS capabilities, including the SUGV. This acceleration of the SUGV prototypes was two years ahead of schedule. In July 2008, a Preliminary — Limited User Test (P-LUT) focused on the Infantry Brigade at Fort Bliss, Texas. The SUGV is now preparing for a formal Limited User Test (LUT) scheduled in summer of 2009 and will form the basis of an acquisition decision or production decision in December of 2009. A successful production decision could lead to fielding as early as late 2011.

 

In addition, we have been selected by Lockheed Martin Corporation, the provider of the Centralized Controller Device (CCD) for the FCS program, to be a key supplier of design and development for the CCD’s controls and display through its estimated delivery in 2015. The CCD is a handheld device that will allow an individual soldier to remotely control or query the systems in an FCS brigade — from a Class I Unmanned Aerial Vehicle to an unmanned ground system. Our involvement in the FCS program has enabled us to improve various management and control systems and enhance our engineering capabilities to achieve the Software Executive Institute’s Configuration Maturity Model certification Level III. The program has also funded the development of earned value measurement and advanced modeling and simulation.

 

Warrior.  Warrior is a 300-pound tracked vehicle, capable of transporting over 150 pounds of payload, with a small footprint and extreme mobility. This effort is currently supported by the Joint Ground Robotics Enterprise and U.S. Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC). The Warrior design incorporates a number of concepts present in our other remote controlled vehicles and demonstrates many of the advantages that modular payloads and common interfaces can bring to the military robotics community. The primary goal of this effort is to advance the maturity levels of the Warrior hardware, firmware and software, and to enhance environmental ruggedness to a level suitable for small quantity manufacturing and evaluation of Warrior platforms in field trials.

 

Daredevil.  Daredevil is an applied research project funded by the TARDEC in which we are investigating the development of an integrated sensor suite consisting of ultra wideband RADAR sensors and high-resolution imaging sensors to provide improved sensing capabilities for Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs), such as the iRobot PackBot. The development of this sensor suite is aimed at improving the navigation capabilities of UGVs operating in dense foliage and poor weather conditions such as rain, snow, smoke. The capability of this integrated sensor suite will extend the benefits of UGVs to warfighters engaged in operations in dense foliage and poor weather conditions and increase their mobility, survivability, and lethality.

 

UGV/UAV Collaborative Engagement.  In coordination with researchers from Carnegie Mellon University, the goal of this U.S. Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC)-funded project is to develop a collaborative engagement tool for mission planning and task allocation for the command and control of multiple unmanned air and ground vehicles. The primary project objective of this effort is to design an automated software tool that facilitates the dynamic collaboration of unmanned air and ground vehicles to enable effective joint operations. This capability will be demonstrated in a mission scenario using an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) to find, identify, and locate a target of interest on the ground, for

example a suspicious vehicle, and then automatically engaging a UGV to navigate to the designated target to provide precise location and ground-based tracking.

 

We are engaged in a number of other research programs funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the U.S. Army Research, Development & Engineering Center (ARDEC), the Office of Naval Research (ONR), TARDEC, and several other U.S. governmental agencies.

 

Strategic Alliances

 

Strategic alliances are an important part of our product development and distribution strategies. We rely on strategic alliances to provide technology, complementary product offerings and increased and quicker access to markets. We seek to form relationships with those entities that can provide best-in-class technology or complementary market advantages for establishing iRobot technology in new market segments.

 

Among the strategic alliances we have established with commercial entities are the following:

 

The Boeing Company.  We have entered into a strategic business agreement with The Boeing Company to develop and market a commercial version of the SUGV that is being developed under the Army’s FCS program. This collaboration will accelerate product development, though extensive use of COTS components, to produce a commercial version of the SUGV robots several years earlier than previously planned for use by our U.S. military, domestic and international customers. In addition to cooperative development, we will be working jointly with The Boeing Company, leveraging its extensive, domestic and international marketing network, to market the new commercial SUGV product.

 

Advanced Scientific Concepts, Inc.  In 2007, we entered into agreement with Advanced Scientific Concepts, Inc. for exclusive rights to use its LADAR technology for unmanned ground vehicles in exchange for future commitments to purchase units. LADAR technology is a next-generation solid state sensor that marks an important advancement for navigation and mapping applications for all autonomous vehicles. LADAR sensors have no moving parts and can be compact, light and rugged, making them highly suitable for military and industrial uses. We will assist Advanced Scientific Concepts, Inc. in designing versions of its LADAR technology for use on our military robots. We expect to demonstrate the technology to key customers starting in early 2009, with delivery of a product expected by mid-2009.

 

TASER International, Inc.  We entered into a strategic business agreement with Taser International Inc. in 2007 to develop new robots that can remotely engage, incapacitate and control dangerous suspects with integrated TASER electronic control devices. In December 2008, iRobot and Taser successfully demonstrated a multi-shot Taser system on a PackBot 510 platform.

 

Our strategy of working closely with third parties extends to the design of our products. By offering extensible platforms designed to carry payloads, we have designed and manufactured our products to leverage the work of those individuals and organizations that offer specialized technological expertise. The PackBot, the Roomba and the Scooba robots are designed with open interfaces that allow third-party designers to add sensors or other functionality to our robots.

 

Sales and Distribution Channels

 

We sell our products through distinct sales channels to the consumer and government and industrial markets.

 

Home Robots

 

We sell our consumer products through a network of national retailers. In 2008, this network consisted of more than 30 retailers, representing over 7,000 stores in the United States, each of which sold some combination of these products. Internationally, our products are sold in over 40 countries, primarily through a network of in-country distributors who resell to retail stores in their respective countries. We also offer our products domestically and internationally through the on-line store on our website.

We have a philosophy to choose supportive channel partners, and we have grown, and intend to continue to selectively grow our retail network globally and by product line. Certain smaller domestic retail operations are supported by distributors to whom we sell product directly. The table below represents the breakdown of our home robots product revenue for the fiscal years ended December 27, 2008 and December 29, 2007.

 

 

Although our retail network is our primary distribution channel for our consumer products, our direct-to-consumer offerings through our on-line store is our single largest outlet, representing 17.7% and 23.4% of total home robots division revenue for fiscal 2008 and 2007, respectively. We have established valuable databases and customer lists that allow us to target directly those consumers most likely to purchase a new robot or upgrade. Our increased focus on international sales activities has resulted in an increase of $44.2 million in international home robots revenue for fiscal 2008 as compared to fiscal 2007. We believe we maintain a close connection with our customers in each of our markets, which provides an enhanced position from which to improve our distribution and product offerings.

 

In the United States, we maintain an in-house sales and product management team. Outside of the United States and Canada, we sell our consumer products through distributors and our website supported by our international sales team. Our consumer distribution strategy is intended to increase our global penetration and presence while maintaining high quality standards to ensure end-user satisfaction.

 

Government and Industrial

 

We sell our government and industrial products directly to end users and indirectly through prime contractors and distributors. While the majority of government and industrial products have been sold to date to various operations within the U.S. federal government, we also sell to state and local as well as to international government organizations. Our military products are sold overseas in compliance with the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, or ITAR. We have sold our products to the governments of various countries in the past several years, including the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Israel, Australia, Republic of Korea, Singapore and others.

 

Customers for our government products, and research and development contracts for the year ended December 27, 2008, include:

 

Our government products are sold by a team of government sales specialists with significant experience in selling to government and defense agencies. All of these individuals have years of experience selling military products to government procurement offices, both in the United States and internationally. We maintain a direct sales and support presence in Europe.

 

Customer Service and Support

 

We also invest in our ongoing customer service and support. Consumer customer service representatives, the majority of whom are employees of outsourced service organizations, are extensively trained on the technical intricacies of our consumer products. Government and industrial customer representatives are usually former military personnel who are experienced in logistical and technical support requirements for military operations.

 

Marketing and Brand

 

We market our home robots in the United States to end-user customers directly through our sales and product management team. We also market our consumer products in the United States through our retail network of more than 30 retailers and internationally through in-country distributors and our international sales team. We market our government and industrial products directly through our team of government sales specialists to end users and indirectly through prime contractors. We also market our product offerings through the iRobot website. Our marketing strategy is to increase our brand awareness and associate the iRobot brand with innovation, reliability, safety and value. Our sales and marketing expenses represented 15.2%, 18.0% and 18.0% of our total revenue in 2008 2007 and 2006, respectively.

 

We believe that we have built a trusted, recognized brand by providing high-quality robots. We believe that customer word-of-mouth has been a significant driver of our brand’s success to date, which can work very well for products that inspire a high level of user loyalty because users are likely to share their positive experiences. Our grass-roots marketing efforts focus on feeding this word-of-mouth momentum and we use public relations as well as advertising to promote our products.

 

Our innovative robots and public relations campaigns have generated extensive press coverage. In addition, iRobot and our consumer robots have won several awards and our inclusion among the first-tier partners on the FCS program has greatly enhanced our brand and awareness among government and industrial customers. Through these efforts, we have been able to build our brand, and we expect that our reputation for innovative products and customer support will continue to play a significant role in our growth and success.

 

We expect to invest in national advertising, consumer and industry trade shows, direct marketing and public relations to further build brand awareness. We believe that our significant in-house experience designing direct marketing campaigns and promotional materials, combined with our media-targeting expertise, gives us a significant competitive advantage.

 

Our website is also playing an increasing role in supporting brand awareness, addressing customer questions and serving as a showcase for our products. Our home robots and accessories are also sold domestically and internationally through our on-line store. In 2008, the on-line store was the single largest outlet of our home robots division products.

 

Manufacturing

 

Our core competencies are the design, development and marketing of robots. Our manufacturing strategy is to outsource non-core activities, such as the production of our robots, to third-party entities skilled in manufacturing. By relying on the outsourced manufacture of both our consumer and military robots, we can focus our engineering expertise on the design of robots.

 

Using our engineering team, we believe that we can rapidly prototype design concepts and products to achieve optimal value, produce products at lower cost points and optimize our designs for manufacturing requirements, size and functionality.

Manufacturing a new product requires a close relationship between our product designers and the manufacturing organizations. Using multiple engineering techniques, our products are introduced to the selected production facility at an early-development stage and the feedback provided by manufacturing is incorporated into the design before tooling is finalized and mass production begins. As a result, we believe that we can significantly reduce the time required to move a product from its design phase to mass production deliveries, with improved quality and yields.

 

We outsource the manufacturing of our consumer products to two contract manufacturers, Jetta Company Limited and Kin Yat Industrial Co. Ltd., each of which manufactures our consumer products at a single plant in China. Jetta Company Limited has been manufacturing products since 1977 and brings substantial experience to our production requirements. Jetta Company Limited has several manufacturing locations and recently expanded one of its facilities to increase capacity for the production of our Roomba 400 series and Scooba robots. Kin Yat Industrial Co. Ltd. has been in business since 1981, has several manufacturing locations in China, and began manufacturing our Roomba 500 series in 2007. Combined with our own engineering operations in India and Hong Kong, this allows us to design our products in both the United States and India, use our own engineers in the United States, India and Hong Kong as technical interfaces with the facilities in China, and benefit from the experience of Jetta Company Limited, Kin Yat Industrial Co. Ltd. and their engineers.

 

Our PackBot family of government and industrial products is manufactured by Gem City Engineering and Manufacturing Corporation, or Gem City, at one plant in Dayton, Ohio. Gem City’s location is particularly important as military products supplied to the U.S. government must have the majority of their content manufactured in the United States. Gem City has multiple facilities and relies on subcontractors for certain component manufacturing capabilities. Gem City has been in the business of manufacturing primarily machined metal products since 1936, and has produced numerous products for military contractors. We believe that Gem City’s engineers are skilled in the production of products meeting military specifications, and in preparing final products for military inspection and conducting quality reviews.

 

Our Small Unmanned Ground Vehicle (SUGV) family of government and industrial products, and our Negotiator family of products targeted for municipal markets, and other products will be manufactured by contract manufacturers who provide high quality, scalable, cost effective manufacturing services.

 

Research and Development

 

We believe that our future success depends upon our ability to continue to develop new products and product accessories, and enhancements to and applications for our existing products. For the years ended December 27, 2008, December 29, 2007 and December 30, 2006, our research and development expenses were $17.6 million, $17.1 million and $17.0 million, respectively. In addition to our internal research and development activities, for the years ended December 27, 2008, December 29, 2007 and December 30, 2006, we have incurred research and development expenses under funded development arrangements with governments and industrial third parties of $23.9 million, $18.8 million and $15.6 million, respectively. Of our total research and development spending in 2008, 2007 and 2006, approximately 51.7%, 37.9% and 36.4%, respectively was funded by government-sponsored research and development contracts. We intend to continue our investment in research and development to respond to and anticipate customer needs, and to enable us to introduce new products over the next few years that will continue to address our existing market sectors.

 

Team Organization

 

Our research and development is conducted by small teams dedicated to particular projects, examples of which include the Roomba team, Scooba team, Warrior team and PackBot team. In connection with our FCS SUGV program, we have instituted a formal integrated product team structure consisting of integrated System of Systems, Integrated Logistical Support, Program Operations and Business Operations teams to work together to deliver a platform that integrates with the FCS system of systems.

Global Engineering

 

Our domestic research and development efforts are primarily located at our headquarters in Bedford, Massachusetts, our office in Durham, North Carolina, and our special projects engineering office in San Luis Obispo, California. In addition, we have an engineering design center in Mysore, India and a product development team in Hong Kong.

 

Our global engineering development process for consumer products allows us to leverage the time differences between our U.S. operations and our teams in Asia resulting in a fast, low cost global design and manufacturing cycle. The first stage of the cycle takes place in both our Bedford, Massachusetts and Mysore, India offices where we focus on product definition, prototyping, market research and financial analysis. We then create a design that is manufacturable, including complete modeling and simulation and initial validation of the product/market concept. After the initial development of the prototypes, we leverage the team in Hong Kong for the production stage of the cycle. During this stage, engineers on two continents work on refining the designs, preparing the product for manufacturing and working through the issues for pilot production. The product is then turned over to the contract manufacturer for volume production.

 

Spiral Development

 

One of the methods we use to develop military products is a “spiral development” process to get field tested equipment to the troops more quickly. After we develop a new product or product upgrade that will fulfill the desired requirements of the user, the product is tested with soldiers in the field. The user provides performance feedback on the product to the in-field engineer. Revisions are made quickly to retest in the field. This method has allowed our research and development team to not only make revisions on existing products quickly and efficiently, but also capture feedback for future upgrades and innovations to meet user needs. Periodically we send engineers in the field with our PackBot tactical military robots to solicit feedback from users which is often times incorporated into future product development and product enhancements.

 

Leveraged Model

 

Our research and development efforts for our next-generation products are supported by a variety of sources. Our next-generation military products are predominately supported by U.S. governmental research organizations, such as the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, U.S. Space and Warfare Command, or SPAWAR, Technical Support Working Group, or TSWG, U.S. Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command, or TACOM, U.S. Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center, or ARDEC, and the FCS program. While the U.S. government retains certain rights in the research projects that it has funded, we retain ownership of patents and know-how and are generally free to develop other commercial products, including consumer and industrial products, utilizing the technologies developed during these projects. Similarly, expertise developed while designing consumer products is used in designing products for government and industrial applications. We also work with strategic collaborators to develop industry-specific technologies. Moreover, we continue to reinvest in advanced research and development projects to maintain our technical capability and to enhance our product offerings.

 

Competition

 

The market for robots is highly competitive, rapidly evolving and subject to changing technologies, shifting customer needs and expectations and the likely increased introduction of new products. We believe that a number of established companies have developed or are developing robots that will compete directly with our product offerings, and many of our competitors have significantly more financial and other resources than we possess. Our current principal competitors include:

 

 

 

While we believe many of our customers purchase our Roomba floor vacuuming robots and Scooba floor washing robots as a supplement to, rather than a replacement for, their traditional vacuum cleaners and wet floor cleaning methods, we do compete in some cases with providers of traditional cleaning products.

 

We believe that the principal competitive factors in the market for robots include product features, performance for the intended mission, cost of purchase, total cost of system operation, including maintenance and support, ease of use, integration with existing equipment, quality, reliability, customer support, brand and reputation.

 

Our ability to remain competitive will depend to a great extent upon our ongoing performance in the areas of product development and customer support. We cannot assure you that our products will continue to compete favorably or that we will be successful in the face of increasing competition from new products and enhancements introduced by existing competitors or new companies entering the markets in which we provide products.

 

Intellectual Property

 

We believe that our continued success depends in large part on our proprietary technology, the intellectual skills of our employees and the ability of our employees to continue to innovate. We rely on a combination of patent, copyright, trademark and trade secret laws, as well as confidentiality agreements, to establish and protect our proprietary rights.

 

As of December 27, 2008, we held 52 U.S. patents and more than 130 pending U.S. patent applications. Also, we held 15 foreign patents, additional design registrations, and more than 60 pending foreign applications. Our U.S. patents will begin to expire in 2019. We will continue to file and prosecute patent (or design registration, as applicable) applications when and where appropriate to attempt to protect our rights in our proprietary technologies. We also encourage our employees to continue to invent and develop new technologies so as to maintain our competitiveness in the marketplace. It is possible that our current patents, or patents which we may later acquire, may be successfully challenged or invalidated in whole or in part. It is also possible that we may not obtain issued patents for our pending patent applications or other inventions we seek to protect. In that regard, we sometimes permit certain intellectual property to lapse or go abandoned under appropriate circumstances and due to uncertainties inherent in prosecuting patent applications, sometimes patent applications are rejected and we subsequently abandon them. It is also possible that we may not develop proprietary products or technologies in the future that are patentable, or that any patent issued to us may not provide us with any competitive advantages, or that the patents of others will harm or altogether preclude our ability to do business.

 

Our registered U.S. trademarks include iRobot, Roomba, Scooba, iRobot Dirt Dog, Create, PackBot, Home Base, Verro and Virtual Wall. Our marks, iRobot, Roomba, Scooba, and certain other trademarks, have also been registered in selected foreign countries.

 

Our means of protecting our proprietary rights may not be adequate and our competitors may independently develop technology that is similar to ours. Legal protections afford only limited protection for our technology. The laws of many countries do not protect our proprietary rights to as great an extent as do the laws of the United States. Despite our efforts to protect our proprietary rights, unauthorized parties have in the past attempted, and may in the future attempt, to copy aspects of our products or to obtain and use information that we regard as proprietary. Third parties may also design around our proprietary rights, which may render our protected products less valuable, if the design around is favorably received in the marketplace. In addition, if any of our products or the technology underlying our products is covered by third-party patents or other intellectual property rights, we could be subject to various legal actions. We cannot assure you that our products do not infringe patents held by others or that they will not in the future. We have received in the past communications from third parties relating to technologies used in our Roomba floor vacuuming robots that have alleged infringement of patents or violation of other intellectual property rights. In response to these communications, we have contacted these third parties to convey our good faith belief

that we do not infringe the patents in question or otherwise violate those parties’ rights. Although there have been no additional actions or communications with respect to these allegations, we cannot assure you that we will not receive further correspondence from these parties, or not be subject to additional allegations of infringement from others. Litigation may be necessary to enforce our intellectual property rights, to protect our trade secrets, to determine the validity and scope of the proprietary rights of others, or to defend against claims of infringement or invalidity, misappropriation, or other claims. Any such litigation could result in substantial costs and diversion of our resources. Moreover, any settlement of or adverse judgment resulting from such litigation could require us to obtain a license to continue to use the technology that is the subject of the claim, or otherwise restrict or prohibit our use of the technology. Any required licenses may not be available to us on acceptable terms, if at all. If we attempt to design around the technology at issue or to find another provider of suitable alternative technology to permit us to continue offering applicable software or product solutions, our continued supply of software or product solutions could be disrupted or our introduction of new or enhanced software or products could be significantly delayed.

 

Regulations

 

We are subject to various government regulations, including various U.S. federal government regulations as a contractor and subcontractor to the U.S. federal government. Among the most significant U.S. federal government regulations affecting our business are:

 

 

We also need special security clearances to continue working on and advancing certain of our projects with the U.S. federal government. Classified programs generally will require that we comply with various Executive Orders, federal laws and regulations and customer security requirements that may include restrictions on how we develop, store, protect and share information, and may require our employees to obtain government clearances.

 

The nature of the work we do for the federal government may also limit the parties who may invest in or acquire us. Export laws may keep us from providing potential foreign acquirers with a review of the technical data they would be acquiring. In addition, there are special requirements for foreign parties who wish to buy or acquire control or influence over companies that control technology or produce goods in the security interests of the United States. There may need to be a review under the Exon-Florio provisions of the Defense Production Act. Finally, the government may require a prospective foreign owner to establish intermediaries to actually run that part of the company that does classified work, and establishing a subsidiary and its separate operation may make such an acquisition less appealing to such potential acquirers.

 

In addition, the export from the United States of many of our products may require the issuance of a license by the U.S. Department of Commerce under the Export Administration Act, as amended, and its implementing Regulations as kept in force by the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977, as amended. Some of our products may require the issuance of a license by the U.S. Department of State under the Arms Export Control Act and its implementing Regulations, which licenses are generally harder to obtain and take longer to obtain than do Export Administration Act licenses.

Government Product Backlog

 

Our government product backlog consists of written orders or contracts to purchase our products received from our government customers. Total backlog of product sales to government customers, which includes federal, state, local and foreign governments, as of December 27, 2008 and December 29, 2007 amounted to approximately $8.4 million and $26.1 million, respectively. We do not have long-term contracts with non-government customers, and purchases from our non-government customers generally occur on an order-by-order basis, which can be terminated or modified at any time by these customers. In addition, our funded research and development contracts may be cancelled or delayed at any time without significant, if any, penalty. As a result, we believe that backlog with respect to product sales to our non-government customers and funded research and development is not meaningful. There can be no assurance that any of our backlog will result in revenue.

 

Employees

 

As of December 27, 2008, we had 479 full-time employees located in the United States and abroad, of whom 216 are in research and development, 118 are in operations, 41 are in sales and marketing and 104 are in general and administration. We believe that we have a good relationship with our employees.

 

Available Information

 

We were incorporated in California in August 1990 under the name IS Robotics, Inc. and reincorporated as IS Robotics Corporation in Massachusetts in June 1994. We reincorporated in Delaware as iRobot Corporation in December 2000. We conduct operations and maintain a number of subsidiaries in the United States and abroad, including operations in Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, China and India. We also maintain iRobot Securities Corporation, a Massachusetts securities corporation, to invest our cash balances on a short-term basis. Our website address is www.irobot.com. Our Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 are available free of charge through the investor relations page of our internet website as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the Securities and Exchange Commission.

 

We operate in a rapidly changing environment that involves a number of risks, some of which are beyond our control. This discussion highlights some of the risks which may affect future operating results. These are the risks and uncertainties we believe are most important for you to consider. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us, which we currently deem immaterial or which are similar to those faced by other companies in our industry or business in general, may also impair our business operations. If any of the following risks or uncertainties actually occurs, our business, financial condition and operating results would likely suffer.

 

Risks Related to Our Business

 

We operate in an emerging market, which makes it difficult to evaluate our business and future prospects.

 

Robots represent a new and emerging market. Accordingly, our business and future prospects are difficult to evaluate. We cannot accurately predict the extent to which demand for consumer robots will increase, if at all. Moreover, there are only a limited number of major programs under which the U.S. federal government is currently funding the development or purchase of military robots. You should consider the challenges, risks and uncertainties frequently encountered by companies using new and unproven business models in rapidly evolving markets. These challenges include our ability to:

 

 

If we fail to successfully address these and other challenges, risks and uncertainties, our business, results of operations and financial condition would be materially harmed.

 

Our financial results often vary significantly from quarter-to-quarter due to a number of factors, which may lead to volatility in our stock price.

 

Our quarterly revenue and other operating results have varied in the past and are likely to continue to vary significantly from quarter-to-quarter. For instance, our consumer product revenue is significantly seasonal. For the fiscal years ended December 27, 2008 and December 29, 2007, we generated 58.6% and 74.6%, respectively, of our revenue from sales of consumer products in the second half of the year. This variability may lead to volatility in our stock price as equity research analysts and investors respond to these quarterly fluctuations. These fluctuations will be due to numerous factors including:

 

 

 

Predicting revenue for any particular quarter and from sales of our consumer products includes many challenges. Chain stores and other national retailers typically place orders for the holiday season in the third quarter and early in the fourth quarter. The timing of these holiday season shipments could materially affect our third or fourth quarter results in any fiscal year. Because of quarterly fluctuations, we believe that quarter-to-quarter comparisons of our operating results are not necessarily meaningful. Moreover, our operating results may not meet expectations of equity research analysts or investors. If this occurs, the trading price of our common stock could fall substantially either suddenly or over time.

 

Global economic conditions and any associated impact on consumer spending could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

 

Continued economic uncertainty and reductions in consumer spending may result in reductions in sales of our consumer robots, which would adversely affect our business, results of operations and our financial condition. In addition, recent disruptions in national and international credit markets have lead to a scarcity of credit, tighter lending standards and higher interest rates on consumer and business loans. Continued disruptions in credit markets may materially limit consumer credit availability and restrict credit availability of our retail customers, which would also impact purchases of our consumer robots. Any reduction in sales of our consumer robots, resulting from reductions in consumer spending or continued disruption in the availability of credit to retailers or consumers, could materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

 

Our future profitability may fluctuate, and we have a limited operating history on which you can base your evaluation of our business.

 

As of December 27, 2008, we had an accumulated deficit of $10.9 million. Over the past five years, our accumulated deficit has decreased by $16.2 million due to annual operating profitability. Because we operate in a rapidly evolving industry, there are challenges to predicting our future operating results, and we cannot be certain that our revenues will grow at rates that will allow us to maintain profitability during every fiscal quarter, or even every fiscal year. In addition, we only have limited operating history on which you can base your evaluation of our business. Failure to maintain profitability may result in the loss access to capital under our existing credit arrangements.

 

A majority of our business currently depends on our consumer robots, and our sales growth and operating results would be negatively impacted if we are unable to enhance our current consumer robots or develop new consumer robots at competitive prices or in a timely manner.

 

For the years ended December 27, 2008 and December 29, 2007, we derived 56.4% and 58.0% of our total revenue from our consumer robots, respectively. For the foreseeable future, we expect that a significant portion of our revenue will continue to be derived from sales of consumer robots in general and home floor care products in particular. Accordingly, our future success depends upon our ability to further penetrate the consumer home care market, to enhance our current consumer products and develop and introduce new consumer products offering enhanced performance and functionality at competitive prices. The development and application of new

technologies involve time, substantial costs and risks. Our inability to achieve significant sales of our newly introduced robots, or to enhance, develop and introduce other products in a timely manner, or at all, would materially harm our sales growth and operating results.

 

We depend on the U.S. federal government for a significant portion of our revenue, and any reduction in the amount of business that we do with the U.S. federal government would negatively impact our operating results and financial condition.

 

For the years ended December 27, 2008 and December 29, 2007, we derived 40.3% and 34.9% of our total revenue, respectively, directly or indirectly, from the U.S. federal government and its agencies. Any reduction in the amount of revenue that we derive from a limited number of U.S. federal government agencies without an offsetting increase in new sales to other customers would have a material adverse effect on our operating results.

 

Our participation in specific major U.S. federal government programs is critical to both the development and sale of our military robots. For example, in the years ended December 27, 2008 and December 29, 2007, 56.7% and 45.0% of our contract revenue was derived from our participation in the U.S. Army’s Future Combat Systems program, respectively. Future sales of our PackBot robots will depend largely on our ability to secure contracts with the U.S. military under its robot programs. We expect that there will continue to be only a limited number of major programs under which U.S. federal government agencies will seek to fund the development of, or purchase, robots. Our business will, therefore, suffer if we are not awarded, either directly or indirectly through third-party contractors, government contracts for robots that we are qualified to develop or build. In addition, if the U.S. federal government or government agencies terminate or reduce the related prime contract under which we serve as a subcontractor, revenues that we derive under that contract could be lost, which would negatively impact our business and financial results. Moreover, it is difficult to predict the timing of the award of government contracts and our revenue could fluctuate significantly based on the timing of any such awards.

 

Even if we continue to receive funding for research and development under these contracts, there can be no assurance that we will successfully complete the development of robots pursuant to these contracts or that, if successfully developed, the U.S. federal government or any other customer will purchase these robots from us. The U.S. federal government has the right when it contracts to use the technology developed by us to have robots supplied by third parties. Any failure by us to complete the development of these robots, or to achieve successful sales of these robots, would harm our business and results of operations.

 

Our contracts with the U.S. federal government contain certain provisions that may be unfavorable to us and subject us to government audits, which could materially harm our business and results of operations.

 

Our contracts and subcontracts with the U.S. federal government subject us to certain risks and give the U.S. federal government rights and remedies not typically found in commercial contracts, including rights that allow the U.S. federal government to:

 

 

Several of our prime contracts with the U.S. federal government do not contain a limitation of liability provision, creating a risk of responsibility for direct and consequential damages. Several subcontracts with prime contractors hold the prime contractor harmless against liability that stems from our work and do not contain a limitation of liability. These provisions could cause substantial liability for us, especially given the use to which our products may be put.

 

In addition, we are subject to audits by the U.S. federal government as part of routine audits of government contracts. As part of an audit, these agencies may review our performance on contracts, cost structures and compliance with applicable laws, regulations and standards. If any of our costs are found to be allocated improperly to a specific contract, the costs may not be reimbursed and any costs already reimbursed for such contract may have to be refunded. Accordingly, an audit could result in a material adjustment to our revenue and results of operations. Moreover, if an audit uncovers improper or illegal activities, we may be subject to civil and criminal penalties and administrative sanctions, including termination of contracts, forfeiture of profits, suspension of payments, fines and suspension or debarment from doing business with the government.

 

If any of the foregoing were to occur, or if the U.S. federal government otherwise ceased doing business with us or decreased the amount of business with us, our business and operating results could be materially harmed and the value of your investment in our common stock could be impaired.

 

Some of our contracts with the U.S. federal government allow it to use inventions developed under the contracts and to disclose technical data to third parties, which could harm our ability to compete.

 

Some of our contracts allow the U.S. federal government rights to use, or have others use, patented inventions developed under those contracts on behalf of the government. Some of the contracts allow the federal government to disclose technical data without constraining the recipient in how that data is used. The ability of third parties to use patents and technical data for government purposes creates the possibility that the government could attempt to establish additional sources for the products we provide that stem from these contracts. It may also allow the government the ability to negotiate with us to reduce our prices for products we provide to it. The potential that the government may release some of the technical data without constraint creates the possibility that third parties may be able to use this data to compete with us in the commercial sector.

 

Government contracts are subject to a competitive bidding process that can consume significant resources without generating any revenue.

 

Government contracts are frequently awarded only after formal competitive bidding processes, which are protracted. In many cases, unsuccessful bidders for government agency contracts are provided the opportunity to protest certain contract awards through various agency, administrative and judicial channels. If any of the government contracts awarded to us are protested, we may be required to expend substantial time, effort and financial resources without realizing any revenue with respect to the potential contract. The protest process may substantially delay our contract performance, distract management and result in cancellation of the contract award entirely.

 

We depend on single source manufacturers, and our reputation and results of operations would be harmed if these manufacturers fail to meet our requirements.

 

We currently depend on one contract manufacturer, Jetta Company Limited, to manufacture our Roomba 400 series and Scooba series of home robot products at a single plant in China, and one contract manufacturer, Kin Yat Industrial Co Limited, to manufacture our Roomba 500 series of home robot products at a single plant in China. Moreover, we rely on one contract manufacturer, Gem City Engineering and Manufacturing, to manufacture our PackBot products at a single plant in the United States. In 2009, we will manufacture our Negotiator products at a single plant in India. We do not have a long-term contract with Jetta Company Limited and the manufacture of our consumer products is provided on a purchase-order basis. These manufacturers supply substantially all of the raw materials and provide all facilities and labor required to manufacture our products. If these companies were to terminate their arrangements with us or fail to provide the required capacity and quality on a timely basis, we would be unable to manufacture our products until replacement contract manufacturing services could be obtained. To qualify a new contract manufacturer, familiarize it with our products, quality standards and other requirements, and commence volume production is a costly and time-consuming process. We cannot assure you that we would be able to establish alternative manufacturing relationships on acceptable terms.

Our reliance on these contract manufacturers involves certain risks, including the following:

 

 

Any interruption in the manufacture of our products would be likely to result in delays in shipment, lost sales and revenue and damage to our reputation in the market, all of which would harm our business and results of operations. In addition, while our contract obligations with our contract manufacturers in China are typically denominated in U.S. dollars, changes in currency exchange rates could impact our suppliers and increase our prices.

 

Any efforts to expand our product offerings beyond our current markets may not succeed, which could negatively impact our operating results.

 

We have focused on selling our robots in the home floor care and military markets. We plan to expand into other markets. For example, we have devoted significant time and incurred expenses in connection with the development of our Looj gutter cleaning robot. In addition, we have devoted significant time and incurred expenses in connection with the development of the Negotiator product for the civil law enforcement and the Seaglider product for the maritime market. Efforts to expand our product offerings beyond the two markets that we currently serve, however, may divert management resources from existing operations and require us to commit significant financial resources to an unproven business, either of which could significantly impair our operating results. Moreover, efforts to expand beyond our existing markets may never result in new products that achieve market acceptance, create additional revenue or become profitable.

 

If we are unable to implement appropriate controls and procedures to manage our growth, we may not be able to successfully implement our business plan.

 

Our headcount and operations are growing rapidly. This rapid growth has placed, and will continue to place, a significant strain on our management, administrative, operational and financial infrastructure. From December 29, 2007 to December 27, 2008, the number of our employees increased from 423 to 479. We anticipate further growth will be required to address increases in our product offerings and the geographic scope of our customer base. Our success will depend in part upon the ability of our senior management to manage this growth effectively. To do so, we must continue to hire, train, manage and integrate a significant number of qualified managers and employees. If our new employees perform poorly, or if we are unsuccessful in hiring, training, managing and integrating these new employees, or retaining these or our existing employees, our business may suffer.

 

In addition, we face risks associated with managing operations outside the United States, including operations in Hong Kong, China, India and the United Kingdom. To manage the expected continued growth of our headcount and operations, we will need to continue to improve our information technology infrastructure, operational, financial and management controls and reporting systems and procedures, and manage expanded operations in geographically distributed locations. Our expected additional headcount and capital investments will increase our costs, which will make it more difficult for us to offset any future revenue shortfalls by offsetting expense reductions in the short term. If we fail to successfully manage our growth, we will be unable to successfully execute our business plan, which could have a negative impact on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

If the consumer robot market does not experience significant growth or if our products do not achieve broad acceptance, we will not be able to achieve our anticipated level of growth.

 

We derive a substantial portion of our revenue from sales of our consumer robots, including our home care robots. For the years ended December 27, 2008 and December 29, 2007, consumer robots accounted for 56.4% and 58.0%, respectively, of our total revenue. We face challenges in predicting the future growth rate or the size of the consumer robot market in general or the home care robot market in particular. Demand for home care robots may not increase, or may decrease, either generally or in specific geographic markets, for particular types of robots or during particular time periods. The expansion of the home robot market and the market for our products depends on a number of factors, such as:

 

 

Even if consumer robots gain wide market acceptance, our robots may not adequately address market requirements and may not continue to gain market acceptance. If robots generally, or our robots specifically, do not gain wide market acceptance, we may not be able to achieve our anticipated level of growth, and our revenue and results of operations would suffer.

 

Our business and results of operations could be adversely affected by significant changes in the policies and spending priorities of governments and government agencies.

 

We derive a substantial portion of our revenue from sales to and contracts with U.S. federal, state and local governments and government agencies, and subcontracts under federal government prime contracts. For the years ended December 27, 2008 and December 29, 2007, U.S. federal government orders, contracts and subcontracts accounted for 40.3% and 34.9%, respectively, of our total revenue. We believe that the success and growth of our business will continue to depend on our successful procurement of government contracts either directly or through prime contractors. Many of our government customers are subject to stringent budgetary constraints and our continued performance under these contracts, or award of additional contracts from these agencies, could be jeopardized by spending reductions or budget cutbacks at these agencies. We cannot assure you that future levels of expenditures and authorizations will continue for governmental programs in which we provide products and services. A significant decline in government expenditures generally, or with respect to programs for which we provide products, could adversely affect our government product and funded research and development revenues and prospects, which would harm our business, financial condition and operating results. Our operating results may also be negatively impacted by other developments that affect these governments and government agencies generally, including:

 

 

These developments and other factors could cause governments and governmental agencies, or prime contractors that use us as a subcontractor, to reduce their purchases under existing contracts, to exercise their rights to terminate contracts at-will or to abstain from renewing contracts, any of which would cause our revenue to decline and could otherwise harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We face intense competition from other providers of robots, including diversified technology providers, as well as competition from providers offering alternative products, which could negatively impact our results of operations and cause our market share to decline.

 

We believe that a number of companies have developed or are developing robots that will compete directly with our product offerings. Additionally, large and small companies, government-sponsored laboratories and universities are aggressively pursuing contracts for robot-focused research and development. Many current and potential competitors have substantially greater financial, marketing, research and manufacturing resources than we possess, and there can be no assurance that our current and future competitors will not be more successful than us. Moreover, while we believe many of our customers purchase our floor vacuuming robots as a supplement to, rather than a replacement for, their traditional vacuum cleaners; we also compete in some cases with providers of traditional vacuum cleaners. Our current principal competitors include:

 

 

In the event that the robot market expands, we expect that competition will intensify as additional competitors enter the market and current competitors expand their product lines. Companies competing with us may introduce products that are competitively priced, have increased performance or functionality, or incorporate technological advances that we have not yet developed or implemented. Increased competitive pressure could result in a loss of sales or market share or cause us to lower prices for our products, any of which would harm our business and operating results.

 

The market for robots is highly competitive, rapidly evolving and subject to changing technologies, shifting customer needs and expectations and the likely increased introduction of new products. Our ability to remain competitive will depend to a great extent upon our ongoing performance in the areas of product development and customer support. We cannot assure you that our products will continue to compete favorably or that we will be successful in the face of increasing competition from new products and enhancements introduced by existing competitors or new companies entering the markets in which we provide products. Our failure to compete successfully could cause our revenue and market share to decline, which would negatively impact our results of operations and financial condition.

 

Our business is significantly seasonal and, because many of our expenses are based on anticipated levels of annual revenue, our business and operating results will suffer if we do not achieve revenue consistent with our expectations.

 

Our home robots revenue is significantly seasonal. For the fiscal years ended December 27, 2008 and December 29, 2007, we generated 58.6% and 74.6%, respectively, of our revenue from sales of consumer products in the second half of the year. We expect a majority of such revenue will continue to be generated in the second half of the year for the foreseeable future. As a result of this seasonality, we believe that quarter-to-quarter comparisons of our operating results are not necessarily meaningful and that these comparisons cannot be relied upon as indicators of future performance.

 

We base our current and future expense levels on our internal operating plans and sales forecasts, including forecasts of holiday sales for our consumer products. A significant portion of our operating expenses, such as research and development expenses, certain marketing and promotional expenses and employee wages and salaries, do not vary directly with sales and are difficult to adjust in the short term. As a result, if sales for a quarter, particularly the final quarter of a fiscal year, are below our expectations, we might not be able to reduce operating expenses for that quarter and, therefore, we would not be able to reduce our operating expenses for the fiscal year.

Accordingly, a sales shortfall during a fiscal quarter, and in particular the fourth quarter of a fiscal year, could have a disproportionate effect on our operating results for that quarter or that year. As a result of these factors, we may report operating results that do not meet the expectations of equity research analysts and investors. This could cause the trading price of our common stock to decline.

 

If critical components of our products that we currently purchase from a small number of suppliers become unavailable, we may incur delays in shipment, which could damage our business.

 

We and our outsourced manufacturers obtain hardware components, various subsystems, raw materials and batteries from a limited group of suppliers, some of which are sole suppliers. We do not have any long-term agreements with these suppliers obligating them to continue to sell components or products to us. Our reliance on these suppliers involves significant risks and uncertainties, including whether our suppliers will provide an adequate supply of required components of sufficient quality, will increase prices for the components and will perform their obligations on a timely basis. If we or our outsourced manufacturers are unable to obtain components from third-party suppliers in the quantities and of the quality that we require, on a timely basis and at acceptable prices, we may not be able to deliver our products on a timely or cost-effective basis to our customers, which could cause customers to terminate their contracts with us, reduce our gross margin and seriously harm our business, results of operations and financial condition. Moreover, if any of our suppliers become financially unstable, we may have to find new suppliers. It may take several months to locate alternative suppliers, if required, or to re-tool our products to accommodate components from different suppliers. We may experience significant delays in manufacturing and shipping our products to customers and incur additional development, manufacturing and other costs to establish alternative sources of supply if we lose any of these sources. We cannot predict if we will be able to obtain replacement components within the time frames that we require at an affordable cost, or at all. In particular, the prices of ABS plastic and nickel (for batteries) have fluctuated greatly and we cannot provide assurance that the prices of these components will not materially impact our results of operations.

 

Our products are complex and could have unknown defects or errors, which may give rise to claims against us, diminish our brand or divert our resources from other purposes.

 

Our robots rely on the interplay among behavior-based artificially intelligent systems, real-world dynamic sensors, user-friendly interfaces and tightly-integrated, electromechanical designs to accomplish their missions. Despite testing, our new or existing products have contained defects and errors and may in the future contain defects, errors or performance problems when first introduced, when new versions or enhancements are released, or even after these products have been used by our customers for a period of time. These problems could result in expensive and time-consuming design modifications or warranty charges, delays in the introduction of new products or enhancements, significant increases in our service and maintenance costs, exposure to liability for damages, damaged customer relationships and harm to our reputation, any of which could materially harm our results of operations and ability to achieve market acceptance. Our quality control procedures relating to the raw materials and components that it receives from third-party suppliers as well as our quality control procedures relating to its products after those products are designed, manufactured and packaged may not be sufficient. In addition, increased development and warranty costs, including the costs of any mandatory or voluntary recall or product upgrades, could be substantial and could reduce our operating margins. Moreover, because military robots are used in dangerous situations, the failure or malfunction of any of these robots, including our own, could significantly damage our reputation and support for robot solutions in general. The existence of any defects, errors, or failures in our products could also lead to product liability claims or lawsuits against us. A successful product liability claim could result in substantial cost, diminish our brand and divert management’s attention and resources, which could have a negative impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

The robot industry is and will likely continue to be characterized by rapid technological change, which will require us to develop new products and product enhancements, and could render our existing products obsolete.

 

Continuing technological changes in the robot industry and in the markets in which we sell our robots could undermine our competitive position or make our robots obsolete, either generally or for particular types of services. Our future success will depend upon our ability to develop and introduce a variety of new capabilities and

enhancements to our existing product offerings, as well as introduce a variety of new product offerings, to address the changing needs of the markets in which we offer our robots. Delays in introducing new products and enhancements, the failure to choose correctly among technical alternatives or the failure to offer innovative products or enhancements at competitive prices may cause existing and potential customers to forego purchases of our products and purchase our competitors’ products. Moreover, the development of new products has required, and will require, that we expend significant financial and management resources. We have incurred, and expect to continue to incur, significant research and development expenses in connection with our efforts to expand our product offerings. If we are unable to devote adequate resources to develop new products or cannot otherwise successfully develop new products or enhancements that meet customer requirements on a timely basis, our products could lose market share, our revenue and profits could decline, or we could experience operating losses. Moreover, if we are unable to offset our product development costs through sales of existing or new products or product enhancements, our operating results and gross margins would be negatively impacted.

 

If we are unable to attract and retain additional skilled personnel, we may be unable to grow our business.

 

To execute our growth plan, we must attract and retain additional, highly-qualified personnel. Competition for hiring these employees is intense, especially with regard to engineers with high levels of experience in designing, developing and integrating robots. Many of the companies with which we compete for hiring experienced employees have greater resources than we have. In addition, in making employment decisions, particularly in the high-technology industries, job candidates often consider the value of the equity they are to receive in connection with their employment. Therefore, significant volatility in the price of our stock may adversely affect our ability to attract or retain technical personnel. Furthermore, changes to accounting principles generally accepted in the United States relating to the expensing of stock options may discourage us from granting the sizes or types of stock options that job candidates may require to accept our offer of employment. If we fail to attract new technical personnel or fail to retain and motivate our current employees, our business and future growth prospects could be severely harmed.

 

We may be sued by third parties for alleged infringement of their proprietary rights, which could be costly, time-consuming and limit our ability to use certain technologies in the future.

 

If the size of our markets increases, we would be more likely to be subject to claims that our technologies infringe upon the intellectual property or other proprietary rights of third parties. In addition, the vendors from which we license technology used in our products could become subject to similar infringement claims. Our vendors, or we, may not be able to withstand third-party infringement claims. Any claims, with or without merit, could be time- consuming and expensive, and could divert our management’s attention away from the execution of our business plan. Moreover, any settlement or adverse judgment resulting from the claim could require us to pay substantial amounts or obtain a license to continue to use the technology that is the subject of the claim, or otherwise restrict or prohibit our use of the technology. There can be no assurance that we would be able to obtain a license from the third party asserting the claim on commercially reasonable terms, if at all, that we would be able to develop alternative technology on a timely basis, if at all, or that we would be able to obtain a license to use a suitable alternative technology to permit us to continue offering, and our customers to continue using, our affected product. In addition, we may be required to indemnify our retail and distribution partners for third-party intellectual property infringement claims, which would increase the cost to us of an adverse ruling in such a claim. An adverse determination could also prevent us from offering our products to others. Infringement claims asserted against us or our vendors may have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations or financial condition.

 

If we fail to maintain or increase our consumer robot sales through our primary distribution channels, which include third-party retailers, our product sales and results of operations would be negatively impacted.

 

Chain stores and other national retailers are the primary distribution channels for our consumer robots and accounted for approximately 21% and 31% of our total revenue for the fiscal years ended December 27, 2008 and December 29, 2007, respectively. We do not have long-term contracts regarding purchase volumes with any of our

retail distributors. As a result, purchases generally occur on an order-by-order basis, and the relationships, as well as particular orders, can generally be terminated or otherwise materially changed at any time by our retail distributors. A decision by a major retail distributor, whether motivated by competitive considerations, financial difficulties, economic conditions or otherwise, to decrease its purchases from us, to reduce the shelf space for our products or to change its manner of doing business with us could significantly damage our consumer product sales and negatively impact our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, during recent years, various retailers, including some of our distributors, have experienced significant changes and difficulties, including consolidation of ownership, increased centralization of purchasing decisions, restructurings, bankruptcies and liquidations. These and other financial problems of some of our retailers increase the risk of extending credit to these retailers. A significant adverse change in a retail distributor relationship with us or in a retail distributor’s financial position could cause us to limit or discontinue business with that distributor, require us to assume more credit risk relating to that distributor’s receivables or limit our ability to collect amounts related to previous purchases by that distributor, all of which could harm our business and financial condition. Disruption of the iRobot on-line store could also decrease our home care robot sales.

 

If we fail to enhance our brand, our ability to expand our customer base will be impaired and our operating results may suffer.

 

We believe that developing and maintaining awareness of the iRobot brand is critical to achieving widespread acceptance of our existing and future products and is an important element in attracting new customers. Furthermore, we expect the importance of global brand recognition to increase as competition develops. Successful promotion of our brand will depend largely on the effectiveness of our marketing efforts, including our mass media outreach, in-store training and presentations and public relations, and our ability to provide customers with reliable and technically sophisticated robots at competitive prices. If customers do not perceive our products to be of high quality, our brand and reputation could be harmed, which could adversely impact our financial results. In addition, brand promotion efforts may not yield significant revenue or increased revenue sufficient to offset the additional expenses incurred in building our brand. If we incur substantial expenses to promote and maintain our brand, we may fail to attract sufficient customers to realize a return on our brand-building efforts, and our business would suffer.

 

If our existing collaborations are unsuccessful or we fail to establish new collaborations, our ability to develop and commercialize additional products could be significantly harmed.

 

If we cannot maintain our existing collaborations or establish new collaborations, we may not be able to develop additional products. We anticipate that some of our future products will be developed and commercialized in collaboration with companies that have expertise outside the robot field. For example, we are currently collaborating with: The Boeing Company, acting by and through its Integrated Defense Systems Combat Systems business unit, on the development of the PackBot SUGV-Early; Lockheed-Martin on the FCS Command Controller device; ICx Nomadics for joint development of explosive and chemical detection unmanned systems, under the Joint Force protection Advanced Security System. Under these collaborations, we may be dependent on our collaborators to fund some portion of development of the product or to manufacture and market either the primary product that is developed pursuant to the collaboration or complementary products required in order to operate our products. In addition, we cannot assure you that we will be able to establish additional collaborative relationships on acceptable terms.

 

Our existing collaborations and any future collaborations with third parties may not be scientifically or commercially successful. Factors that may affect the success of our collaborations include the following:

 

 

 

We depend on the experience and expertise of our senior management team and key technical employees, and the loss of any key employee may impair our ability to operate effectively.

 

Our success depends upon the continued services of our senior management team and key technical employees, such as our project management personnel and senior engineers. Moreover, we often must comply with provisions in government contracts that require employment of persons with specified levels of education and work experience. Each of our executive officers, key technical personnel and other employees could terminate his or her relationship with us at any time. The loss of any member of our senior management team might significantly delay or prevent the achievement of our business objectives and could materially harm our business and customer relationships. In addition, because of the highly technical nature of our robots, the loss of any significant number of our existing engineering and project management personnel could have a material adverse effect on our business and operating results.

 

We are subject to extensive U.S. federal government regulation, and our failure to comply with applicable regulations could subject us to penalties that may restrict our ability to conduct our business.

 

As a contractor and subcontractor to the U.S. federal government, we are subject to and must comply with various government regulations that impact our operating costs, profit margins and the internal organization and operation of our business. Among the most significant regulations affecting our business are:

 

 

Also, we need special clearances to continue working on and advancing certain of our projects with the U.S. federal government. Obtaining and maintaining security clearances for employees involves a lengthy process, and it is difficult to identify, recruit and retain employees who already hold security clearances. If our employees are unable to obtain security clearances in a timely manner, or at all, or if our employees who hold security clearances are unable to maintain the clearances or terminate employment with us, then a customer requiring classified work could terminate the contract or decide not to renew it upon its expiration. In addition, we expect that many of the contracts on which we will bid will require us to demonstrate our ability to obtain facility security clearances and employ personnel with specified types of security clearances. To the extent we are not able to obtain facility security clearances or engage employees with the required security clearances for a particular contract, we may not be able to bid on or win new contracts, or effectively rebid on expiring contracts. For example, if we were to lose our

security clearance, we would be unable to continue to participate in the U.S. Army’s Future Combat Systems program. Classified programs generally will require that we comply with various Executive Orders, federal laws and regulations and customer security requirements that may include restrictions on how we develop, store, protect and share information, and may require our employees to obtain government clearances.

 

Our failure to comply with applicable regulations, rules and approvals could result in the imposition of penalties, the loss of our government contracts or our suspension or debarment from contracting with the federal government generally, any of which would harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

If we fail to protect, or incur significant costs in defending, our intellectual property and other proprietary rights, our business and results of operations could be materially harmed.

 

Our success depends on our ability to protect our intellectual property and other proprietary rights. We rely primarily on patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets and unfair competition laws, as well as license agreements and other contractual provisions, to protect our intellectual property and other proprietary rights. Significant technology used in our products, however, is not the subject of any patent protection, and we may be unable to obtain patent protection on such technology in the future. Moreover, existing U.S. legal standards relating to the validity, enforceability and scope of protection of intellectual property rights offer only limited protection, may not provide us with any competitive advantages, and may be challenged by third parties. In addition, the laws of countries other than the United States in which we market our products may afford little or no effective protection of our intellectual property. Accordingly, despite our efforts, we may be unable to prevent third parties from infringing upon or misappropriating our intellectual property or otherwise gaining access to our technology. Unauthorized third parties may try to copy or reverse engineer our products or portions of our products or otherwise obtain and use our intellectual property. Some of our contracts with the U.S. federal government allow the federal government to disclose technical data regarding the products developed on behalf of the government under the contract without constraining the recipient on how it is used. This ability of the government creates the potential that third parties may be able to use this data to compete with us in the commercial sector. If we fail to protect our intellectual property and other proprietary rights, our business, results of operations or financial condition could be materially harmed.

 

In addition, defending our intellectual property rights may entail significant expense. We believe that certain products in the marketplace may infringe our existing intellectual property rights. We have, from time to time, resorted to legal proceedings to protect our intellectual property and may continue to do so in the future. We may be required to expend significant resources to monitor and protect our intellectual property rights. Any of our intellectual property rights may be challenged by others or invalidated through administrative processes or litigation. If we resort to legal proceedings to enforce our intellectual property rights or to determine the validity and scope of the intellectual property or other proprietary rights of others, the proceedings could result in significant expense to us and divert the attention and efforts of our management and technical employees, even if we were to prevail.

 

Acquisitions and potential future acquisitions could be difficult to integrate, divert the attention of key personnel, disrupt our business, dilute stockholder value and impair our financial results.

 

As part of our business strategy, we have acquired Nekton and intend to consider additional acquisitions of companies, technologies and products that we believe could accelerate our ability to compete in our core markets or allow us to enter new markets. Acquisitions involve numerous risks, any of which could harm our business, including:

 

 

 

Acquisitions also frequently result in the recording of goodwill and other intangible assets which are subject to potential impairments in the future that could harm our financial results. In addition, if we finance acquisitions by issuing convertible debt or equity securities, our existing stockholders may be diluted, which could lower the market price of our common stock. As a result, if we fail to properly evaluate acquisitions or investments, we may not achieve the anticipated benefits of any such acquisitions, and we may incur costs in excess of what we anticipate. The failure to successfully evaluate and execute acquisitions or investments or otherwise adequately address these risks could materially harm our business and financial results.

 

We may not be able to obtain capital when desired on favorable terms, if at all, or without dilution to our stockholders.

 

We anticipate that our current cash, cash equivalents, cash provided by operating activities and funds available through our working capital line of credit, will be sufficient to meet our current and anticipated needs for general corporate purposes. We operate in an emerging market, however, which makes our prospects difficult to evaluate. It is possible that we may not generate sufficient cash flow from operations or otherwise have the capital resources to meet our future capital needs. For example in fiscal 2007 we consumed $27 million of our cash and short term investments. If similar consumptions of cash were to continue, we may need additional financing to execute on our current or future business strategies, including to:

 

 

If we raise additional funds through the issuance of equity or convertible debt securities, the percentage ownership of our stockholders could be significantly diluted, and these newly-issued securities may have rights, preferences or privileges senior to those of existing stockholders. We cannot assure you that additional financing will be available on terms favorable to us, or at all. If adequate funds are not available or are not available on acceptable terms, if and when needed, our ability to fund our operations, take advantage of unanticipated opportunities, develop or enhance our products, or otherwise respond to competitive pressures would be significantly limited. In addition, our access to credit through our working capital line of credit may be limited by the restrictive financial covenants contained in that agreement, which require us to maintain profitability.

 

Environmental laws and regulations and unforeseen costs could negatively impact our future earnings.

 

The manufacture and sale of our products in certain states and countries may subject us to environmental and other regulations. We also face increasing complexity in our product design as we adjust to new and upcoming requirements relating to our products, including the restrictions on lead and certain other substances in electronics that apply to specified electronics products put on the market in the European Union (Restriction of Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive). Similar laws and regulations have been or may be enacted in other regions, including in the United States, Canada, Mexico, China, the United Kingdom, Germany and Japan. There is no assurance that such existing laws or future laws will not impair future earnings or results of operations.

Business disruptions resulting from international uncertainties could negatively impact our profitability.

 

We derive, and expect to continue to derive, a portion of our revenue from international sales in various European markets, Canada, Japan, Korea and Singapore. For the fiscal years ended December 27, 2008 and December 29, 2007, sales to non-U.S. customers accounted for 23.4% and 13.1% of total revenue, respectively. Our international revenue and operations are subject to a number of material risks, including, but not limited to:

 

 

Negative developments in any of these areas in one or more countries could result in a reduction in demand for our products, the cancellation or delay of orders already placed, threats to our intellectual property, difficulty in collecting receivables, and a higher cost of doing business, any of which could negatively impact our business, financial condition or results of operations. Moreover, our sales, including sales to customers outside the United States, are primarily denominated in U.S. dollars, and downward fluctuations in the value of foreign currencies relative to the U.S. dollar may make our products more expensive than other products, which could harm our business.

 

If we are unable to continue to obtain U.S. federal government authorization regarding the export of our products, or if current or future export laws limit or otherwise restrict our business, we could be prohibited from shipping our products to certain countries, which would harm our ability to generate revenue.

 

We must comply with U.S. laws regulating the export of our products. In addition, we are required to obtain a license from the U.S. federal government to export our PackBot, Warrior and SUGV lines of tactical military robots. We cannot be sure of our ability to obtain any licenses required to export our products or to receive authorization from the U.S. federal government for international sales or domestic sales to foreign persons. Moreover, the export regimes and the governing policies applicable to our business are subject to change. We cannot assure you of the extent that such export authorizations will be available to us, if at all, in the future. In some cases where we act as a subcontractor, we rely upon the compliance activities of our prime contractors, and we cannot assure you that they have taken or will take all measures necessary to comply with applicable export laws. If we or our prime contractor partners cannot obtain required government approvals under applicable regulations in a timely manner or at all, we would be delayed or prevented from selling our products in international jurisdictions, which could materially harm our business, operating results and ability to generate revenue.

State and local taxing authorities may determine that we are required to collect and remit sales tax in additional jurisdictions.

 

We collect and remit sales tax in states in which we have a physical presence or in which we believe nexus exists, which obligates us to collect sales tax. Other states may, from time to time, claim that we have state-related activities constituting a sufficient nexus to require such collection. Additionally, many other states seek to impose sales tax collection obligations on companies that sell goods to customers in their state, or directly to the state and its political subdivisions, even without a physical presence. A successful assertion by one or more states that we should collect sales tax on the sale of merchandise could result in substantial tax liabilities related to past sales.

 

Currently, U.S. Supreme Court decisions restrict the imposition of obligations to collect state and local sales and use taxes with respect to sales made over the Internet. However, a number of states, as well as the U.S. Congress, have been considering initiatives that could limit or supersede the Supreme Court’s position regarding sales and use taxes on Internet sales. If any of these initiatives were successful, we could be required to collect sales and use taxes in additional states, which could result in substantial tax liabilities and penalties in connection with past sales.

 

Our income tax provision and other tax liabilities may be insufficient if taxing authorities are successful in asserting tax positions that are contrary to our position. Additionally, there is no guarantee that we will realize our deferred tax assets.

 

From time to time, we are audited by various federal, state and local authorities regarding income tax matters. Significant judgment is required to determine our provision for income taxes and our liabilities for federal, state, local and other taxes. Although we believe our approach to determining the appropriate tax treatment is supportable and in accordance with Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 109, “Accounting for Income Taxes,” and FASB Interpretation No. 48, “Accounting for Uncertainty in Income Taxes,” it is possible that the final tax authority will take a tax position that is materially different than that which is reflected in our income tax provision. Such differences could have a material adverse effect on our income tax provision or benefit, in the reporting period in which such determination is made and, consequently, on our results of operations, financial position and/or cash flows for such period.

 

At December 27, 2008 we had gross deferred tax assets of $15.3 million and a valuation allowance of $3.5 million resulting in net deferred tax asset of $11.8 million. Future adjustments, either increases or decreases, to our deferred tax asset valuation allowance will be determined based upon changes in the expected realization of our net deferred tax assets. The realization of our deferred tax assets ultimately depends on the existence of sufficient taxable income in either the carryback or carryforward periods under the tax law. Due to significant estimates utilized in establishing the valuation allowance and the potential for changes in facts and circumstances, it is possible that we will be required to record adjustments to the valuation allowance in future reporting periods. Our results of operations would be impacted negatively if we determine that increases to our deferred tax asset valuation allowance are required in a future reporting period.

 

Our directors and management will exercise significant control over our company, which will limit your ability to influence corporate matters.

 

As of December 27, 2008, our directors and executive officers and their affiliates collectively beneficially owned approximately 20.9% of our outstanding common stock. As a result, these stockholders, if they act together, will be able to influence our management and affairs and all matters requiring stockholder approval, including the election of directors and approval of significant corporate transactions. This concentration of ownership may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change in control of our company and might negatively affect the market price of our common stock.

Provisions in our certificate of incorporation and by-laws, our shareholder rights agreement or Delaware law might discourage, delay or prevent a change of control of our company or changes in our management and, therefore, depress the trading price of our common stock.

 

Provisions of our certificate of incorporation and by-laws and Delaware law may discourage, delay or prevent a merger, acquisition or other change in control that stockholders may consider favorable, including transactions in which you might otherwise receive a premium for your shares of our common stock. These provisions may also prevent or frustrate attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our management. These provisions include:

 

 

The affirmative vote of the holders of at least 75% of our shares of capital stock entitled to vote is necessary to amend or repeal the above provisions of our certificate of incorporation. In addition, absent approval of our board of directors, our by-laws may only be amended or repealed by the affirmative vote of the holders of at least 75% of our shares of capital stock entitled to vote.

 

We have also adopted a shareholder rights agreement that entitles our stockholders to acquire shares of our common stock at a price equal to 50% of the then-current market value in limited circumstances when a third party acquires or announces its intention to acquire 15% or more of our outstanding common stock.

 

In addition, Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law prohibits a publicly-held Delaware corporation from engaging in a business combination with an interested stockholder, generally a person which together with its affiliates owns, or within the last three years has owned, 15% of our voting stock, for a period of three years after the date of the transaction in which the person became an interested stockholder, unless the business combination is approved in a prescribed manner.

 

The existence of the foregoing provisions and anti-takeover measures could limit the price that investors might be willing to pay in the future for shares of our common stock. They could also deter potential acquirers of our company, thereby reducing the likelihood that you could receive a premium for your common stock in an acquisition.

 

 

None.

 

 

Our corporate headquarters are located in Bedford, Massachusetts, where we lease approximately 157,000 square feet. This lease expires on May 1, 2020. We lease 15,700 square feet in Durham, North Carolina supporting our government and industrial division’s UUVs. We lease 6,150 square feet of space at a facility in Burlington, Massachusetts, for our prototype work on unmanned ground vehicles. We also lease 7,550 square feet in Mysore, India and we lease smaller facilities in Hong Kong; Shenzhen, China; London, England; San Luis Obispo, California; and Crystal City, Virginia. We do not own any real property. We believe that our leased facilities and additional or alternative space available to us will be adequate to meet our needs for the foreseeable future.

 

 

From time to time and in the ordinary course of business, we are subject to various claims, charges and litigation. The outcome of litigation cannot be predicted with certainty and some lawsuits, claims or proceedings may be disposed of unfavorably to us, which could materially affect our financial condition or results of operations.

 

 

None.

 

 

Our common stock is listed on the NASDAQ Global Market under the symbol “IRBT”. The following table sets forth, for the periods indicated, the high and low sales prices per share for our common stock as reported on the NASDAQ Global Market.

 

 

As of February 5, 2009, there were approximately 24,916,561 shares of our common stock outstanding held by approximately 145 stockholders of record and the last reported sale price of our common stock on the NASDAQ Global Market on February 5, 2009 was $7.95 per share.

 

Dividend Policy

 

We have never declared or paid any cash dividends on our capital stock. We currently expect to retain future earnings, if any, to finance the growth and development of our business and we do not anticipate paying any cash dividends in the foreseeable future.

 

Equity Compensation Plan Information

 

We maintain the following four equity compensation plans under which our equity securities are authorized for issuance to our employees and/or directors: Amended and Restated 1994 Stock Plan; Amended and Restated 2001 Special Stock Option Plan; Amended and Restated 2004 Stock Option and Incentive Plan; and 2005 Stock Option and Incentive Plan. Each of the foregoing compensation plans was approved by our stockholders. The following table represents information about these plans as of December 27, 2008:

 

 

No further grants are being made under the Amended and Restated 1994 Stock Plan, the Amended and Restated 2001 Special Stock Option Plan and the Amended and Restated 2004 Stock Option and Incentive Plan.

 

Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

 

During the fiscal quarter ended December 27, 2008, there were no repurchases made by us or on our behalf, or by any “affiliated purchasers,” of shares of our common stock.

 

 

The selected historical financial data set forth below as of December 27, 2008 and December 29, 2007 and for the years ended December 27, 2008, December 29, 2007 and December 30, 2006 are derived from our financial statements, which have been audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, our independent registered public accounting firm, and which are included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. The selected historical financial data as of December 30, 2006, December 31, 2005 and 2004 and for the years ended December 31, 2005 and 2004 are derived from our financial statements, which have been audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and which are not included elsewhere in this Annual Report.

 

The following selected consolidated financial data should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements, the related notes and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. The historical results are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for any future period.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The information contained in this section has been derived from our consolidated financial statements and should be read together with our consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, and are subject to the “safe harbor” created by those sections. In particular, statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K that are not historical facts, including, but not limited to statements concerning new product sales, product development and offerings, Roomba, Scooba, Looj and Verro products, PackBot tactical military robots, our home robot and government and industrial robot divisions, competition and strategy and our market position, market acceptance of our products, seasonal factors, revenue recognition, profits, growth of revenues, composition of revenues, cost of revenues, operating expenses, sales, marketing and support expenses, general and administrative expenses, research and development expenses, compensation costs, our ability to attract and retain qualified personnel, credit facility and equipment facility, valuations of investments, valuation and composition of stock-based awards, SFAS No. 123(R), and liquidity, constitute forward-looking statements and are made under these safe harbor provisions. Some of the forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terms such as “believes,” “expects,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “could,” “seek,” “intends,” “plans,” “estimates,” “anticipates,” or other comparable terms. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. We urge you to consider the risks and uncertainties discussed in greater detail under the heading “Risk Factors” in evaluating our forward-looking statements. We have no plans to update our forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this report. We caution readers not to place undue reliance upon any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made.

 

Overview

 

iRobot designs and builds robots that make a difference. Founded in 1990 by roboticists who performed research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, we have developed proprietary technology incorporating advanced concepts in navigation, mobility, manipulation and artificial intelligence to build industry-leading robots. Our Roomba floor vacuuming robot and Scooba floor washing robot perform time- consuming domestic chores, in the home, while our Looj gutter cleaning robot and Verro pool cleaning robot perform tasks outside the home, and our PackBot tactical military robots perform battlefield reconnaissance and bomb disposal. In addition, we are developing the SUGV reconnaissance robot for the U.S. Army’s FCS program. We sell our robots to consumers through a variety of distribution channels, including chain stores and other national retailers, and our on-line store, and to the U.S. military and other government agencies worldwide.

 

As of December 27, 2008, we had 479 full-time employees. We have developed expertise in all the disciplines necessary to 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 expected growth in the market for robots.

 

Over the past six years, we have sold more than 4 million of our home care robots. We have also sold more than 2,200 of our PackBot tactical military robots, most of which have been sold to the U.S. military and deployed on missions in Afghanistan and Iraq.

 

Although we have successfully launched consumer and government and industrial products, our continued success depends upon our ability to respond to a number of future challenges. We believe the most significant of these challenges include increasing competition in the markets for both our consumer and government and industrial products, our ability to obtain U.S. federal government funding for research and development programs, and our ability to successfully develop and introduce products and product enhancements.

 

Initial Public Offering

 

On November 15, 2005, we completed our initial public offering of 4,945,000 shares of common stock at $24.00 per share, comprised of 3,260,870 primary shares and 1,684,130 shares offered by selling stockholders, which includes the exercise of the over-allotment option by the underwriters of the offering. In connection with the offering, all of the outstanding shares of our preferred stock were converted into an equal number of shares of common stock. The sale of the 3,260,870 shares of common stock in connection with our initial public offering resulted in net proceeds to us of approximately $70.4 million after deducting underwriters’ discounts and offering-related expenses. A summary of the terms of the offering can be found in our Registration Statement No. 333-126907 on Form S-1, as amended, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

 

Revenue

 

We currently derive revenue from product sales and research and development programs. Product revenue is derived from the sale of our various home cleaning robots and government and industrial robots and related accessories. Research and development revenue is derived from the execution of contracts awarded by the U.S. federal government, other governments and a small number of other partners. In the future, we expect to derive increasing revenue from product maintenance and support services due to a focused effort to market these services to the expanding installed base of our robots.

 

We currently derive a majority of our product revenue from the sale of our home cleaning robots and our PackBot tactical military robots. For the fiscal years ended December 27, 2008 and December 29, 2007, product revenues accounted for 91.4% and 91.3% of total revenue, respectively. For the fiscal years ended December 27, 2008 and December 29, 2007, our funded research and development contracts accounted for approximately 8.6% and 8.7% of our total revenue, respectively. We expect to continue to perform funded research and development work with the intent of leveraging the technology developed to advance our new product development efforts. In the future, however, we expect that revenue from funded research and development contracts could grow modestly on an absolute dollar basis and represent a decreasing percentage of our total revenue due to the anticipated growth in consumer and military product revenue.

 

For the fiscal years ended December 27, 2008 and December 29, 2007 approximately 56.0% and 59.3%, respectively, of our home robot product revenue resulted from sales to 15 customers. For fiscal 2007 the customers were comprised primarily of U.S. retailers, and for fiscal 2008, the customers were comprised of both U.S. retailers and international distributors. Direct-to-consumer revenue generated through our on-line store accounted for 17.7% of our home robot product revenue for the fiscal year ended December 27, 2008 compared to 23.4% in the fiscal year ended December 29, 2007. In addition, 93.3% and 86.0% of military product revenue, and 89.8% and 72.4% of funded research and development contract revenue, resulted from orders and contracts with the U.S. federal government in the fiscal years ended December 27, 2008 and December 29, 2007, respectively.

 

For the fiscal years ended December 27, 2008 and December 29, 2007, sales to non-U.S. customers accounted for 23.4% and 13.1% of total revenue, respectively.

Our revenue from product sales is generated through sales to our retail distribution channels, our distributor network and to certain U.S. and foreign governments. We recognize revenue from the sales of home robots under the terms of agreements with customers upon transfer of title to the customer, net of estimated returns, provided that collection is determined to be probable and no significant obligations remain.

 

Revenue from consumer product sales is significantly seasonal, with a majority of our consumer product revenue generated in the second half of the year (in advance of the holiday season). The timing of holiday season shipments could materially affect our third or fourth quarter consumer product revenue in any fiscal year. Revenue from our military robot sales and revenue from funded research and development contracts are occasionally influenced by the September 30 fiscal year-end of the U.S. federal government, but are not otherwise significantly seasonal. In addition, our revenue can be affected by the timing of the release of new products and the award of new contracts.

 

Cost of Revenue

 

Cost of product revenue includes the cost of raw materials and labor that go into the development and manufacture of our products as well as manufacturing overhead costs such as manufacturing engineering, quality assurance, logistics and warranty costs. For the fiscal years ended December 27, 2008 and December 29, 2007, cost of product revenue was 67.7% and 64.9% of total product revenue, respectively. Raw material costs, which are our most significant cost items, can fluctuate materially on a periodic basis, although many components have been historically stable. Additionally, unit costs can vary significantly depending on the mix of products sold. During 2007 in particular, the cost of some materials increased significantly, especially nickel (for batteries). The aggregate cost of batteries for our home robots was especially impacted in 2007, as nickel prices more than doubled on a per ton basis. There can be no assurance that our costs of raw materials will not increase. Labor costs also comprise a significant portion of our cost of revenue. Compared to our PackBot tactical military robots, labor costs for our home robots comprise a greater percentage of the associated cost of revenue. We outsource the manufacture of our home robots to contract manufacturers in China. While labor costs in China traditionally have been favorable compared to labor costs elsewhere in the world, including the United States, we believe that labor in China is becoming more scarce. Consequently, the labor costs for our home robots could increase in the future

 

Cost of contract revenue includes the direct labor costs of engineering resources committed to funded research and development contracts, as well as third-party consulting, travel and associated direct material costs. Additionally, we include overhead expenses such as indirect engineering labor, occupancy costs associated with the project resources, engineering tools and supplies and program management expenses. For the fiscal years ended December 27, 2008 and December 29, 2007, cost of contract revenue was 90.4% and 87.0% of total contract revenue, respectively.

 

Gross Margin

 

Our gross margin as a percentage of revenue varies according to the mix of product and contract revenue, the mix of products sold, total sales volume, the level of defective product returns, and levels of other product costs such as warranty, scrap, re-work and manufacturing overhead. For the years ended December 27, 2008 and December 29, 2007, gross margin was 30.4% and 33.2% of total revenue, respectively.

 

Research and Development Expenses

 

Research and development expenses consist primarily of:

 

 

We have significantly expanded our research and development capabilities and expect to continue to expand these capabilities in the future. An example of this is the engineering design center we opened in India late in 2005. A substantial portion of our research and development is performed in the United States, although we maintain an

increasing number of engineering personnel in India and Hong Kong to serve as a liaison between our U.S.-based engineering staff and our outsourced manufacturer in China. We are committed to consistently maintaining the level of innovative design and development of new products as we strive to enhance our ability to serve our existing consumer and military markets as well as new markets for robots. We anticipate that research and development expenses will remain level or decrease in absolute dollars for the foreseeable future.

 

For the fiscal years ended December 27, 2008 and December 29, 2007, research and development expense was $17.6 million and $17.1 million, or 5.7% and 6.9% of total revenue, respectively.

 

In addition to our internal research and development activities discussed above, we incur research and development expenses under funded development arrangements with both governments and other third parties. For the fiscal years ended December 27, 2008 and December 29, 2007, these expenses amounted to $23.9 million and $18.8 million, respectively. In accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, these expenses have been classified as cost of revenue rather than research and development expense.

 

Selling, General and Administrative Expenses

 

Our selling, general and administrative expenses consist primarily of:

 

 

We anticipate that selling, general and administrative expenses will remain relatively flat at current levels as we continue to build the iRobot brand and also maintain company profitability.

 

For the fiscal years ended December 27, 2008 and December 29, 2007, selling, general and administrative expense was $75.7 million and $65.8 million, or 24.6% and 26.4% of total revenue, respectively.

 

Litigation and Related Expenses

 

In fiscal 2007, we incurred $2.3 million of litigation and settlement-related costs associated with two related lawsuits filed by us in August 2007. The first of these lawsuits was filed in Massachusetts Superior Court, and subsequently transferred to the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, against Robotic FX, Inc. and Jameel Ahed alleging, among other things, misappropriation of trade secrets and breach of contract. The second lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama against Robotic FX, Inc. alleging willful infringement of two patents owned by us. See Note 11 to the Consolidated Financial Statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for a more detailed discussion of this litigation and related settlement.

 

Fiscal Periods

 

Historically, our fiscal year ended on December 31 and our fiscal quarters ended on March 31, June 30, September 30 and December 31. Reference to fiscal 2004, for example, refers to the fiscal year ended December 31, 2004. Beginning in fiscal 2005, we began to operate and report using a 52-53 week fiscal year ending on the Saturday closest to December 31. Accordingly, each of our fiscal quarters ends on the Saturday that falls closest to the last day of the third calendar month of the quarter.

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

 

Our consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. The preparation of these consolidated financial statements requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenue, costs and expenses, and related disclosures. We evaluate our estimates and assumptions on an ongoing basis. Our actual results may differ from these estimates.

 

We believe that of our significant accounting policies, which are described in the notes to our consolidated financial statements, the following accounting policies involve a greater degree of judgment and complexity. Accordingly, we believe that the following accounting policies are the most critical to aid in fully understanding and evaluating our consolidated financial condition and results of operations.

 

Revenue Recognition

 

We recognize revenue from sales of consumer products under the terms of the customer agreement upon transfer of title to the customer, provided the price is fixed or determinable, collection is determined to be probable and no significant obligations remain. Sales to resellers are subject to agreements allowing for limited rights of return for defective products only, rebates and price protection. We have typically not taken product returns except for defective products. Accordingly, we reduce revenue for our estimates of liabilities for these rights at the time the related sale is recorded. We establish a provision for sales returns for products sold by resellers directly or through our distributors based on historical return experience. We have aggregated and analyzed historical returns from resellers and end users which form the basis of our estimate of future sales returns by resellers or end users. In accordance with Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 48 “Revenue Recognition When Right of Return Exists,” the provision for these estimated returns is recorded as a reduction of revenue at the time that the related revenue is recorded. If actual returns from retailers differ significantly from our estimates, such differences could have a material impact on our results of operations for the period in which the actual returns become known. Our returns reserve is calculated as a percentage of gross consumer product revenue. A one percentage point increase or decrease in our actual experience of returns would have a material impact on our quarterly and annual results of operations. The estimates for returns are adjusted periodically based upon historical rates of returns. The estimates and reserve for rebates and price protection are based on specific programs, expected usage and historical experience. Actual results could differ from these estimates. Through 2003, we recognized revenue on sales to certain distributors and retail customers upon their sale to the end user. Starting in the first quarter of 2004, as a result of our accumulation of sufficient experience to reasonably estimate allowances for product returns, we adopted the standard industry practice of recognizing revenue on all sales upon delivery of product to distributors and retail stores and established a related allowance for future returns based upon historical experience. If future trends or our ability to estimate were to change significantly from those experienced in the past, incremental reductions or increases to revenue may result based on this new experience.

 

Under cost-plus research and development contracts, we recognize revenue based on costs incurred plus a pro-rata portion of the total fixed fee. We recognize revenue on fixed-price contracts using the percentage-of- completion method. Costs and estimated gross margins on contracts are recorded as work is performed based on the percentage that incurred costs bear to estimated total costs utilizing the most recent estimates of costs and funding. Changes in job performance, job conditions and estimated profitability, including those arising from final contract settlements, may result in revisions to costs and income, and are recorded or recognized, as the case may be, in the period in which the revisions are determined. Since many contracts extend over a long period of time, revisions in cost and funding estimates during the progress of work have the effect of adjusting earnings applicable to past performance in the current period. When the current contract estimate indicates a loss, provision is made for the total anticipated loss in the current period. Revenue earned in excess of billings, if any, is recorded as unbilled revenue. Billings in excess of revenue earned, if any, are recorded as deferred revenue.

 

Accounting for Stock-Based Awards

 

Effective January 1, 2006, we adopted the provisions of Statement of Financial Accounting Standards, or SFAS, No. 123(R), Share-Based Payment, which establishes accounting for equity instruments exchanged for employee services. Under the provisions of SFAS No. 123(R), share-based compensation cost is measured at the

grant date, based on the calculated fair value of the award, and is recognized as an expense over the employee’s requisite service period (generally the vesting period of the equity grants). Prior to January 1, 2006, we accounted for share-based compensation to employees in accordance with Accounting Principles Board Opinion, or APB, No. 25, Accounting for Stock Issued to Employees, and related interpretations. We also followed the disclosure requirements of SFAS No. 123, Accounting for Stock-Based Compensation, as amended by SFAS No. 148, Accounting for Stock-Based Compensation — Transition and Disclosure. We adopted the prospective transition method as provided by SFAS No. 123(R) and, accordingly financial statement amounts for the prior periods presented in this Annual Report on Form 10-K have not been restated to reflect the fair value method of expensing share-based compensation.

 

In a review of our stock-based compensation accounting methodology performed in the fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2007, we determined that a cumulative adjustment of $0.5 million of incremental stock-based compensation expense, and a balance sheet reclassification of $0.8 million from deferred compensation to additional paid-in capital, were required due to a correction in the application of SFAS No. 123(R). Upon adoption of SFAS No. 123(R) on January 1, 2006, we incorrectly valued 259,700 stock options that were granted between the date that we filed our initial Form S-1 registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, on July 27, 2005 and the date we became a public company (November 8, 2005). We believe, in accordance with APB No. 28, Interim Financial Reporting, paragraph 29, that this adjustment was not material to our full year results for 2007. In addition, we do not believe the adjustment is material to the amounts reported by us in previous periods. This cumulative adjustment was recorded during the three month period ended June 30, 2007 and is included in the cost of revenue and operating expenses for the fiscal year ended December 29, 2007.

 

Under SFAS No. 123(R), entities that become public companies after June 15, 2005 and used the minimum value method of measuring equity share options and similar instruments as a non-public company for either recognition or pro forma disclosure purposes under SFAS No. 123 shall apply the provisions of SFAS No. 123(R) prospectively to new and/or modified awards after the adoption of SFAS No. 123(R). Companies should continue to account for any portion of awards outstanding at the date of initial application of SFAS No. 123(R) using the accounting principles originally applied to those awards — either the minimum value method under SFAS No. 123 or the provisions of APB No. 25 and its related interpretive guidance. Accordingly, we did not record any cumulative effect of a change in accounting principle associated with the adoption of SFAS No. 123(R). As of December 27, 2008, the deferred stock-based compensation balance associated with these grants was $0.3 million. We will continue to recognize the associated stock-based compensation expense, in accordance with the provisions of APB No. 25, related to these shares of $0.2 million and $0.1 million for 2009 and 2010, respectively.

 

Under the provisions of SFAS No. 123(R), we recognized $4.7 million of stock-based compensation expense during the fiscal year ended December 27, 2008 for stock options granted subsequent to our initial filing of our Form S-1 with the SEC. The unamortized fair value as of December 27, 2008 associated with these grants was $14.2 million with a weighted average remaining recognition period of 2.49 years.

 

The risk-free interest rate is derived from the average U.S. Treasury constant maturity rate, which approximates the rate in effect at the time of grant, commensurate with the expected life of the instrument. The dividend yield is zero based upon the fact that we have never paid and have no present intention to pay cash dividends. The expected term calculation is based upon the simplified method provided under SEC Staff Accounting Bulletin (“SAB”) No. 110. Under SAB No. 110, the expected term is developed by averaging the contractual term of the stock option grants (7 or 10 years) with the associated vesting term (typically 4 to 5 years). Given our initial public offering in November 2005 and the resulting short history as a public company, we could not rely solely on company specific historical data for purposes of establishing expected volatility. Consequently, we performed an analysis that included company specific historical data combined with data of several peer companies with similar expected option lives to develop an expected volatility assumption.

 

Based upon the above assumptions, the weighted average fair value of each stock option granted for the fiscal year ended December 27, 2008 was $7.12.

During the fiscal year ended December 27, 2008, the Company recognized $0.2 million and $0.7 million of stock based compensation associated with restricted stock awards and restricted stock units, respectively. Unamortized expense associated with restricted stock awards and restricted stock units at December 27, 2008, was $0.2 million and $2.4 million, respectively.

 

We have assumed a forfeiture rate for all stock options, restricted stock awards and restricted stock-based units granted subsequent to the Company’s initial filing of its Form S-1 with the SEC. In the future, we will record incremental stock-based compensation expense if the actual forfeiture rates are lower than estimated and will record a recovery of prior stock-based compensation expense if the actual forfeitures are higher than estimated.

 

SFAS No. 123(R) requires significant judgment and the use of estimates, particularly surrounding assumptions such as stock price volatility and expected option lives, as well as expected option forfeiture rates to value equity-based compensation.

 

Accounting for Income Taxes

 

Deferred taxes are determined based on the difference between the financial statement and tax basis of assets and liabilities using enacted tax rates in effect in the years in which the differences are expected to reverse. Valuation allowances are provided if based upon the weight of available evidence, it is more likely than not that some or all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized.

 

We monitor the realization of our deferred tax assets based on changes in circumstances, for example, recurring periods of income for tax purposes following historical periods of cumulative losses or changes in tax laws or regulations. Our income tax provision and our assessment of the realizability of our deferred tax assets involve significant judgments and estimates. In fiscal 2007, we completed an analysis of historical and projected future profitability which resulted in the full release of the valuation allowance relating to federal deferred tax assets. We continue to maintain a valuation allowance against state deferred tax assets due to less certainty of their realizability given the shorter expiration period associated with these state deferred tax assets and the generation of state tax credits in excess of the state tax liability. At December 27, 2008, we have total deferred tax assets of $15.3 million and a valuation allowance of $3.5 million resulting in a net deferred tax asset of $11.8 million.

 

Warranty

 

We typically provide a one-year warranty (with the exception of European consumer products which typically have a two-year warranty period) against defects in materials and workmanship and will either repair the goods, provide replacement products at no charge to the customer or refund amounts to the customer for defective products. We record estimated warranty costs, based on historical experience by product, at the time we recognize product revenue. As the complexity of our products increases, we could experience higher warranty claims relative to sales than we have previously experienced, and we may need to increase these estimated warranty reserves.

 

Inventory Valuation

 

We value our inventory at the lower of the actual cost of our inventory or its current estimated market value. We write down inventory for obsolescence or unmarketable inventories based upon assumptions about future demand and market conditions. Because of the seasonality of our consumer product sales and inventory levels, obsolescence of technology and product life cycles, we generally write down inventory to net realizable value based on forecasted product demand. Actual demand and market conditions may be lower than those that we project and this difference could have a material adverse effect on our gross margin if inventory write-downs beyond those initially recorded become necessary. Alternatively, if actual demand and market conditions are more favorable than those we estimated at the time of such a write-down, our gross margin could be favorably impacted in future periods.

Overview of Results of Operations

 

The following table sets forth our results of operations for the periods shown:

 

 

 

 

 

 

The following table sets forth our results of operations as a percentage of revenue for the periods shown:

 

 

Comparison of Years Ended December 27, 2008 and December 29, 2007

 

Revenue

 

 

Our revenue increased 23.5% to $307.6 million in fiscal 2008 from $249.1 million in fiscal 2007. Revenue increased approximately $29.1 million, or 20.2%, in our home robots division and $29.4 million, or 28.1%, in our government and industrial division.

 

The $29.1 million increase in revenue from our home robots division was driven by a $25.3 million increase in home robot revenue due to a 17.4% increase in units shipped and a 1.4% increase in average selling prices, along with a $5.6 million increase in product life cycle revenue (spare parts and accessories). Total home care robots shipped in fiscal 2008 totaled approximately 1,054,000 units compared to approximately 898,000 units in fiscal 2007. The increase in home robot division revenue and units shipped was primarily attributable to increased international demand for our home robot products resulting from our increased efforts to expand our global presence. In fiscal 2008 home robots shipped internationally increased 162% as compared to fiscal 2007. International home robots revenue increased $44.2 million in fiscal 2008 as compared to fiscal 2007. This was offset by decreases in revenue from domestic retailers of $12.0 million and direct to consumer revenue of $3.1 million in fiscal 2008 as compared to fiscal 2007.

The $29.4 million increase in revenue from our government and industrial division was driven by a $25.4 million increase in government and industrial robots revenue due to a 101.9% increase in units shipped in fiscal 2008 as compared to fiscal 2007. This was partially offset by a 30.2% decrease in associated net average selling prices related to product mix primarily attributable to a shift of our military product line into lower priced FasTac units as compared to MTRS (Man Transportable Robot System) units last year, and a $0.7 million decrease in product life cycle revenue (spare parts and accessories).

 

Recurring contract development revenue generated under research and development contracts increased $4.8 million in our government and industrial division. Contract revenue in fiscal year 2008 includes $1.7 million of contract revenue from recently acquired Nekton. Our increased contract revenue was the result of our acquisition of Nekton, incremental funding on existing contracts and new contract awards during fiscal 2008 offset by reduced revenue on completed prior year contracts

 

Cost of Revenue

 

 

Total cost of revenue increased to $214.2 million in fiscal 2008, compared to $166.5 million in fiscal 2007. The increase is primarily due to higher costs associated with the 17.4% increase in the unit sales of our home care robots, and the 101.9% increase in the unit sales of our military robots in fiscal 2008 as compared to fiscal 2007.

 

We incur research and development expenses under funded development arrangements with both governments and industrial third parties, which in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America, are classified as cost of revenue rather than research and development expense. For fiscal 2008, these expenses amounted to $23.9 million compared to $18.8 million for the comparable period in 2007. The increase in these expenses was primarily due to increased headcount in our contract research and development function to 82 employees at December 27, 2008 from 64 employees at December 29, 2007.

 

Gross Margin

 

 

Gross margin increased $10.9 million, or 13.2%, to $93.5 million (30.4% of revenue) in fiscal 2008, from $82.6 million (33.2% of revenue) in fiscal 2007. The decrease in gross margin as a percentage of revenue fiscal 2008 compared to fiscal 2007 was the result of the home robots division gross margin decreasing 3.6 percentage points, and by the government and industrial division gross margin decreasing 1.8 percentage points. The 3.6 percentage point decrease in the home robots division was driven primarily by a retail customer bankruptcy, provisions taken for excess inventory and defective product returns, promotional incentives and channel mix. The government and industrial division decrease was attributable to higher net warranty costs, provisions taken for excess inventory and product mix.

 

Research and Development

 

Research and development expenses increased by $0.5 million, or 2.8%, to $17.6 million (5.7% of revenue) in fiscal 2008, from $17.1 million (6.9% of revenue) for fiscal 2007. The increase in research and development expenses is primarily due to an increase in compensation and employee related costs, increased occupancy costs associated with our move to our new facility and the write off of in-process research and development costs relating to the Nekton acquisition, offset by a decrease in consultant expense.

 

Overall internal research and development headcount decreased to 94 at December 27, 2008 compared to 105 as of December 29, 2007, a decrease of 11 employees or 10%. Headcount grew during 2008 until December, when a small reduction in force took place.

 

In addition to our internal research and development activities discussed above, we incur research and development expenses under funded development arrangements with both governments and industrial third parties. For fiscal 2008, these expenses amounted to $23.9 million compared to $18.8 million for the comparable period in 2007. These expenses have been classified as cost of revenue rather than research and development expense as they are executed under funded research contracts.

 

Selling and Marketing

 

 

Selling and marketing expenses increased by $2.0 million, or 4.4%, to $46.9 million (15.2% of revenue) in fiscal 2008 from $44.9 million (18.0% of revenue) in fiscal 2007.

 

The increase was primarily driven by increases in our government and industrial division of $1.7 million in costs associated with bid and proposal activities, increased labor costs and other marketing related costs. Corporate marketing expenses increased by $0.7 million in fiscal 2008 as compared to fiscal 2007 primarily driven by public relations spending to continue building brand awareness. These increases were partially offset by an overall decrease in selling and marketing expenses of the home robots division of $0.4 million attributed to a decrease of $4.0 million related to our direct response infomercial program, which ran during fiscal 2007 and was not repeated in fiscal 2008, $0.2 decrease in other marketing related costs, offset by increases of $1.4 million in television, on-line and print media, $1.8 million in freight and fulfillment related expenses, $0.7 million in labor and sales commissions.

 

In fiscal 2009, we expect to continue to invest in sales and marketing to increase brand awareness. Accordingly, we anticipate selling and marketing expenses will remain at the same level or slightly above fiscal 2008 in absolute dollars.

 

Overall selling and marketing headcount increased to 41 at December 27, 2008 compared to 36 as of December 29, 2007, an increase of five employees or 14%.

 

General and Administrative

 

 

General and administrative expenses increased by $7.9 million, or 37.9%, to $28.8 million (9.4% of revenue) in fiscal 2008 from $20.9 million (8.4% of revenue) in fiscal 2007. The increase in general and administrative expenses was primarily driven by increases of $2.1 million in compensation expense due to increased headcount, $1.2 million in stock-based compensation, $1.0 million in incentive compensation, $1.0 million in bad debt expense

associated with collectability concerns of receivables due from three of our retail customers given their financial condition and bankruptcy filings, $0.8 million in occupancy and depreciation expenses relating to the move to our new corporate headquarters, $0.5 million in executive severance and $0.2 million of goodwill amortization relating to our acquisition of Nekton.

 

Overall general and administrative headcount increased to 101 at December 27, 2008 compared to 88 as of December 29, 2007, an increase of 13 employees or 15%.

 

Litigation and Related Expenses

 

 

Litigation and related expenses in fiscal 2007 consisted of costs for trade secret misappropriation, breach of contract and patent infringement litigation relating to lawsuits filed against Robotic FX, Inc. and Jameel Ahed as well as settlement costs related to ending the litigation.

 

Other Income, Net

 

 

For fiscal 2008, other income, net amounted to $0.9 million compared to $3.2 million in fiscal 2007. The decrease in other income, net in fiscal 2008 was primarily related to a $2.1 million decrease in interest income as a result of lower investment account balances and reduced interest rates earned on the portfolio, and a $0.1 million increase in other expense, relating to foreign currency losses, as compared to fiscal 2007. Other income, net for fiscal 2008 consisted of $1.1 million in interest income resulting from our cash and investments, offset by $0.1 million in interest expense and $0.1 million in foreign currency losses.

 

Income Tax Provision

 

 

In fiscal 2008 we recorded a $0.4 million tax provision based on an effective income tax rate of 32.8%. The provision for income taxes for fiscal 2008 consists of $0.1 million of federal alternative minimum taxes and $0.3 million of state taxes.

 

In fiscal 2007, we recorded an $8.6 million tax benefit, which was primarily attributable to the full release of the valuation allowance relating to federal deferred tax assets.

Comparison of Years Ended December 29, 2007 and December 30, 2006

 

Revenue

 

 

Our revenue increased 31.8% to $249.1 million in fiscal 2007 from $189.0 million in fiscal 2006. Revenue increased approximately $32.1 million, or 28.5%, in our home robots division and $28.1 million, or 36.7%, in our government and industrial division.

 

The $32.1 million increase in revenue from our home robots division was driven by a $28.2 million increase in robot revenue due to a 23.9% increase in units shipped and a 2.1% increase in average selling prices, along with a $3.8 million increase in product life cycle revenue (spare parts and accessories). Total home care robots shipped in fiscal 2007 totaled approximately 899,000 units compared to approximately 725,000 units in fiscal 2006. The increase in units shipped was driven by the introduction of our Roomba 500 series during 2007.

 

The $28.1 million increase in revenue from our government and industrial division was driven by a $20.0 million increase in military robots revenue due to a 22.3% increase in units shipped and a 20.4% increase in net average selling prices, and a $7.7 million increase in product life cycle revenue (robot spare parts, services and training). Total military robots shipped in fiscal 2007 was 471 units compared to 385 units in fiscal 2006.

 

Recurring contract development revenue generated under research and development contracts increased $0.3 million in our government and industrial division. Our increased contract revenue was the result of incremental funding on existing contracts and new contract awards during fiscal 2007 offset by reduced revenue on completed prior year contracts.

 

Cost of Revenue

 

 

Total cost of revenue increased to $166.5 million in fiscal 2007, compared to $119.2 million in fiscal 2006. The increase is primarily due to a 23.9% increase in the unit sales of our home care robots, and a 22.3% increase in the unit sales of our military robots in fiscal 2007 as compared to fiscal 2006.

 

The home robots division cost of revenue increased as a percent of revenue by 7.2 percentage points in fiscal 2007 as compared to fiscal 2006. This increase was primarily attributable to a 15.4% increase in average unit costs driven primarily by the mix of higher cost products and increased battery costs due to the increased cost of nickel.

 

The government and industrial robots division cost of revenue decreased as a percent of revenue by 1.3 percentage points for fiscal 2007 as compared to fiscal 2006. This decrease was due to the above-mentioned increase in average selling prices and higher margins on increased product life cycle revenue, partially offset by a 3.1% increase in the average unit cost of products sold.

 

Gross Margin

 

Gross margin increased 18.4% to $82.6 million in fiscal 2007, from $69.7 million in fiscal 2006. Gross margin as a percentage of revenue decreased to 33.2% in fiscal 2007 from 36.9% of revenue in fiscal 2006. This 3.7 percentage decrease in gross margin was the result of the home robots division gross margin decreasing 7.2 percentage points partially offset by the government and industrial gross margin increasing 1.3 percentage points, and the higher mix of government and industrial revenue in fiscal 2007 as compared to fiscal 2006. The home robots division decrease was driven primarily by higher average unit costs due to the mix of higher cost products and increased battery costs, while the government and industrial increase was driven by the mix of higher margin products and a higher percentage of product revenue as compared to contract revenue in fiscal 2007 as compared to fiscal 2006.

 

Research and Development

 

 

Research and development expenses increased by $0.1 million or 0.3% to $17.1 million (6.9% of revenue) in fiscal 2007, from $17.0 million (9.0% of revenue) for fiscal 2006. The home robots division research and development expenses increased in fiscal 2007 as compared to fiscal 2006 due to hiring, depreciation and costs associated with the India design center, offset by reductions in the government and industrial division. This reduction in government and industrial expenses was largely attributable to the fact that 2006 expenses included accelerated spending as a result of our decision to invest higher than planned earnings in research and development activities, a strategy that was not repeated in 2007.

 

Overall internal research and development headcount increased to 105 at December 29, 2007 compared to 104 as of December 30, 2006, an increase of one employee.

 

In addition to our internal research and development activities discussed above, we incur research and development expenses under funded development arrangements with both governments and industrial third parties. For fiscal 2007 these expenses amounted to $18.8 million compared to $15.6 million for the comparable period in 2006. The increase in these expenses was primarily due to increased headcount in our contract research and development function to 64 employees at December 29, 2007 from 58 employees at December 30, 2006. In accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, these expenses have been classified as cost of revenue rather than research and development expense as they are executed under funded research contracts.

 

Selling and Marketing

 

 

Selling and marketing expenses increased by $10.9 million or 32.2% to $44.9 million (18.0% of revenue) in fiscal 2007 from $34.0 million (18.0% of revenue) in fiscal 2006.

 

The $8.7 million increase in the home robot division selling and marketing expense was primarily driven by a $12 million increase in costs associated with our increased direct business, including both website sales and infomercial programs which were run earlier in the year, offset by lower television media expenses. Additionally, trade shows and other marketing related activities increased by $1.3 million, people related costs increased by $0.7 million and sales commissions increased by $0.6 million.

Government and industrial division selling and marketing expenses were up $2.4 million for fiscal 2007 as compared to fiscal 2006 due primarily to $0.9 million of increased compensation and benefit related expense resulting from the expansion of our sales team, $0.3 million increased travel costs, $0.5 million in increased sales commission due to a new commissions program and $0.4 million increase in stock compensation expense.

 

Overall selling and marketing headcount increased to 36 at December 29, 2007 compared to 31 as of December 30, 2006, an increase of five employees or 16%.

 

General and Administrative

 

 

General and administrative expenses increased by $2.2 million or 11.8% to $20.9 million (8.4% of revenue) in fiscal 2007 from $18.7 million (9.9% of revenue) in fiscal 2006. The increase in general and administrative expense was primarily driven by an increase of $1.1 million in compensation and benefits expenses due to increased headcount, and an increase of $1.0 million in stock compensation expense for fiscal 2007 as compared to fiscal 2006.

 

Overall general and administrative headcount increased to 88 at December 29, 2007 compared to 72 as of December 30, 2006, an increase of 16 employees or 22%.

 

Litigation and Related Expenses

 

 

Litigation and related expenses consist of costs for trade secret misappropriation, breach of contract and patent infringement litigation relating to lawsuits filed against Robotic FX, Inc. and Jameel Ahed as well as settlement costs related to ending the litigation.

 

Other Income, Net

 

 

For fiscal 2007, other income, net amounted to $3.2 million compared to $3.8 million in fiscal 2006. The other income, net was directly related to interest income resulting from our cash and investments in auction rate securities and money market accounts.

 

Income Tax Provision

 

In fiscal 2007, we recorded an $8.6 million tax benefit, which was primarily attributable to the full release of the valuation allowance relating to federal deferred tax assets. The provision for income taxes for fiscal 2006 consists of $0.2 million of federal alternative minimum taxes and $0.1 million of state taxes.

 

Liquidity and Capital Resources

 

At December 27, 2008 our principal sources of liquidity were cash and cash equivalents totaling $40.9 million and accounts receivable of $35.9 million. Prior to our initial public offering in November 2005, we funded our growth primarily with proceeds from the issuance of convertible preferred stock for aggregate net cash proceeds of $37.5 million, occasional borrowings under a working capital line of credit and cash generated from operations. In the initial public offering, we raised $70.4 million net of underwriting and professional fees associated with this offering.

 

We manufacture and distribute our products through contract manufacturers and third-party logistics providers. We believe that this approach gives us the advantages of relatively low capital investment and significant flexibility in scheduling production and managing inventory levels. By leasing our office facilities, we also minimize the cash needed for expansion. Accordingly, our capital spending is generally limited to leasehold improvements, computers, office furniture and product-specific production tooling, internal use software and test equipment. In fiscal 2008 and 2007, we spent $14.8 million and $10.4 million, respectively, on capital equipment.

 

Our strategy for delivering product to our retail customers gives us the flexibility to provide container shipments directly to the retailer from China and allows our retail partners to take possession of product on a domestic basis. Accordingly, our home robots product inventory consists of goods shipped to our third-party logistic providers for the fulfillment of retail orders and direct-to-consumer sales. Our inventory of government and industrial products is minimal as they are generally built to order. Our contract manufacturers are responsible for purchasing and stocking the components required for the production of our products, and they invoice us when the finished goods are shipped.

 

Our consumer product sales are, and are expected to continue to be, highly seasonal. This seasonality typically results in a net use of cash in support of operating needs during the first half of the year with the low point generally occurring in the middle of the third quarter, and a favorable cash flow during the second half of the year. We have relied on, and we will continue to rely on, our working capital line of credit to cover short-term cash needs resulting from the seasonality of our consumer business.

 

Discussion of Cash Flows

 

Net cash provided by our operating activities in fiscal 2008 was $19.1 million compared to net cash used by operating activities of $15.7 million in fiscal 2007 and net cash provided by operating activities of $0.6 million in fiscal 2006. The cash provided by our operating activities in fiscal 2008 was primarily due to net income of $0.8 million, a decrease in accounts receivable (including unbilled revenue) of $12.5 million, a decrease in inventory of $10.7 million, an increase in deferred revenue and customer advances of $1.0 million, and an increase in long term liabilities of $4.4 million, offset by an increase in other current assets of $1.0 million, and a decrease in accounts payable, accrued expenses and accrued compensation of $20.7 million. In addition, in fiscal 2008, we had depreciation and amortization of approximately $7.0 million, a loss on the disposal of fixed asset of $0.2 million, a write-off of in-process research and development associated with our acquisition of Nekton of $0.2 million, deferred compensation of $0.1 million and stock-based compensation of $5.9 million, offset by a $2.0 million benefit from deferred tax assets which are non-cash items. The cash used by our operating activities in fiscal 2007 was primarily due to an increase in accounts receivable (including unbilled revenue) of $19.5 million and an increase in inventory of $24.3 million, offset by net income of $9.1 million, a decrease in other current other assets of $0.6 million, an increase in accounts payable and accrued expenses of $17.4 million and an increase in deferred revenue of $1.1 million. In addition, in fiscal 2007, we had depreciation and amortization of approximately $5.3 million and amortization of deferred compensation of $4.7 million, offset by a $10.2 million benefit from deferred tax assets, all of which are non-cash items. The increase in accounts receivable, inventory and liabilities in fiscal 2007 are directly attributable to the 31.9% growth in revenue from the comparable period in fiscal 2006. The cash provided by our operating activities in fiscal 2006 was primarily due to net income of $3.6 million and an increase in accounts payable, accrued

expenses and accrued compensation of $8.7 million, offset by an increase in accounts receivable and unbilled revenue of $6.0 million, an increase in inventory of $5.0 million, an increase in other assets of $1.3 million, and a decrease in provision for contract settlement and deferred revenue of $5.7 million. In addition, in fiscal 2006, we had depreciation and amortization of approximately $3.7 million and amortization of deferred compensation of $2.6 million, both of which are non-cash expenses. The increase in accounts receivable, inventory and liabilities in fiscal 2006 are directly attributable to the 33.1% growth in revenue from the comparable period in fiscal 2005.

 

Net cash used by our investing activities was $8.0 million in fiscal 2008 compared to net cash provided by investing activities of $35.4 million in fiscal 2007 and net cash used by investing activities of $72.3 million in fiscal 2006. Investment activities in 2008 represent the funds used in the acquisition of Nekton of $9.7 million and the purchase of capital equipment of $14.8 million, partially offset by the sale of short-term investments (net of purchases) of $16.6 million. The fiscal 2008 investment in capital equipment of $14.8 million consisted primarily of leasehold improvements and furniture related to our new home office location, internal use demonstration units, internal use software and computer equipment. Investment activities in 2007 represent the sale of short-term investments (net of the purchase of short-term investments) of $48.3 million, the purchase of capital equipment of $10.4 million and an investment in Advanced Scientific Concepts, Inc. of $2.5 million. Investment activities in 2006 represent the purchase of short-term investments (net of the sale of short-term investments) of $64.8 million and the purchase of capital equipment of $7.5 million.

 

Net cash provided by our financing activities was approximately $3.0 million in fiscal 2008, $1.4 million in fiscal 2007, and $1.2 million in fiscal 2006. Net cash provided by our financing activities in fiscal 2008 consisted of proceeds from stock option exercises and the tax benefit associated with excess stock-based compensation deductions. Net cash provided by our financing activities in fiscal 2007 consisted primarily of proceeds from stock option exercises and the tax benefit associated with excess stock-based compensation deductions, partially offset by a tax payment associated with exercise of stock options by our Chief Executive Officer. Net cash provided by our financing activities in fiscal 2006 consisted primarily of proceeds from stock option exercises.

 

The majority of our long-lived assets for the years ended December 27, 2008, December 29, 2007 and December 30, 2006 are located in the United States. However, we have invested in production tooling for the manufacture of the Roomba, Scooba and Looj product lines in China.

 

We currently have a $10.9 million accumulated deficit as a result of significant losses incurred through 2003, largely attributable to our investment in internally funded research and development. Based on our historical product development efforts, we launched our first commercial products, our Roomba floor vacuuming robot and our PackBot tactical military robot, in fiscal 2002. Since fiscal 2002, our revenue has significantly increased, our investment in internally-funded research and development has declined as a percentage of revenue, and we have achieved annual profitability since fiscal 2004. We have not invested significantly in property, plant and equipment, primarily as a result of our outsourced approach to manufacturing that provides significant flexibility in both managing inventory levels and financing our inventory. Our consumer revenue has been highly seasonal. This seasonality tends to result in the net use of cash during the second and third quarters and significant generation of cash in the fourth and first quarters of the year.

 

Working Capital Facility

 

We have an unsecured revolving credit facility with Bank of America, N.A., which is available to fund working capital and other corporate purposes. The amount available for borrowing under our credit facility is the lesser of: (a) $45.0 million or (b) amounts available pursuant to a borrowing base calculation determined pursuant to the terms and conditions of the credit facility. The interest on loans under our credit facility will accrue, at our election, at either (i) Bank of America’s prime rate minus 1% or (ii) the Eurodollar rate plus 1.25%. The credit facility will terminate and all amounts outstanding thereunder will be due and payable in full on June 5, 2010.

 

As of December 27, 2008, we had letters of credit outstanding of $2.1 million and $42.9 million available under our working capital line of credit. This credit facility contains customary terms and conditions for credit facilities of this type, including restrictions on our ability to incur or guaranty additional indebtedness, create liens, enter into transactions with affiliates, make loans or investments, sell assets, pay dividends or make distributions on, or repurchase, our stock, and consolidate or merge with other entities.

In addition, we are required to meet certain financial covenants customary with this type of agreement, including maintaining a minimum specified tangible net worth and a minimum specified annual net income.

 

This credit facility contains customary events of default, including for payment defaults, breaches of representations, breaches of affirmative or negative covenants, cross defaults to other material indebtedness, bankruptcy and failure to discharge certain judgments. If a default occurs and is not cured within any applicable cure period or is not waived, our obligations under the credit facility may be accelerated.

 

As of December 27, 2008, we were in compliance with all covenants under the credit facility.

 

Equipment Financing Facility

 

We have a $5.0 million secured equipment facility with Banc of America Leasing & Capital, LLC under which we can finance the acquisition of equipment, furniture and leasehold improvements. We may borrow amounts under the equipment facility until April 30, 2009 and any amounts borrowed during that period will accrue interest at 30-day LIBOR plus 1%. After April 30, 2009, all amounts then outstanding under the equipment line will be repaid in 60 equal monthly installments commencing in April 2009 and will accrue interest, at our election, at either a fixed or variable rate of interest determined as a function of LIBOR at the time of borrowing. Our obligations under the equipment facility will be secured by any financed equipment.

 

As of December 27, 2008, we had no amounts outstanding and $5.0 million available under our equipment financing line of credit.

 

This equipment facility contains customary terms and conditions for equipment facilities of this type, including, without limitation, restrictions on our ability to transfer, encumber or dispose of the financed equipment. In addition, we are required to meet certain financial covenants customary to this type of agreement, including maintaining a minimum specified tangible net worth and a minimum specified annual net income.

 

This equipment facility contains customary events of default, including for payment defaults, breaches of representations, breaches of affirmative or negative covenants, cross defaults to other material indebtedness, bankruptcy and failure to discharge certain judgments. If a default occurs and is not cured within any applicable cure period or is not waived, or if we repay all of our indebtedness under our credit facility with Bank of America, N.A., our obligations under this equipment facility may be accelerated.

 

As of December 27, 2008 we were in compliance with all covenants under the equipment facility.

 

Working Capital and Capital Expenditure Needs

 

We currently have no material cash commitments, except for normal recurring trade payables, expense accruals and operating leases, all of which we anticipate funding through our current cash balance, existing working capital line of credit, working capital and funds provided by operating activities. We do not currently anticipate significant investment in property and equipment, and we believe that our outsourced approach to manufacturing provides us with flexibility in both managing inventory levels and financing our inventory. Pursuant to the terms of the Nekton acquisition agreement, additional consideration up to $5 million may be paid based on the achievement of certain business and financial milestones. We believe our existing cash, cash equivalents, cash provided by operating activities, and funds available through our working capital line of credit will be sufficient to meet our working capital and capital expenditure needs over at least the next twelve months. In the event that our revenue plan does not meet our expectations, we may eliminate or curtail expenditures to mitigate the impact on our working capital. Our future capital requirements will depend on many factors, including our rate of revenue growth, the expansion of our marketing and sales activities, the timing and extent of spending to support product development efforts, the timing of introductions of new products and enhancements to existing products, the acquisition of new capabilities or technologies, and the continuing market acceptance of our products and services. Moreover, to the extent that existing cash, cash equivalents, cash from operations, and cash from short-term borrowing are insufficient to fund our future activities, we may need to raise additional funds through public or private equity or debt financing.

Contractual Obligations

 

We generally do not enter into binding purchase commitments. Our principal commitments consist of obligations under our working capital line of credit, leases for office space and minimum contractual obligations for services. The following table describes our commitments to settle contractual obligations in cash as of December 27, 2008:

 

 

Our minimum contractual payments consist entirely of payments to our provider of direct fulfillment services for direct to consumer sales of our home robots, which payments are incurred in the ordinary course of business. Based on historical and current operations, we believe that we will exceed these minimum contractual obligations in our ordinary course of business.

 

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

 

As of December 27, 2008, we had no off-balance sheet arrangements as defined in Item 303(a)(4) of Regulation S-K.

 

Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements

 

In February 2008, the FASB issued FSP FAS 157-2, which delays the effective date of SFAS 157 for all nonfinancial assets and nonfinancial liabilities, except those that are recognized or disclosed at fair value in the financial statements on a recurring basis (at least annually). This FSP partially deferred the effective date of SFAS 157 to fiscal years beginning after November 15, 2008, and interim periods within those fiscal years for items within the scope of this FSP. This FSP will be adopted by us in the first quarter of fiscal year 2009, and is not expected to have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.

 

In December 2007, FASB issued SFAS No. 141 (revised 2007), Business Combinations, or SFAS 141R and SFAS No. 160, Noncontrolling Interests in Consolidated Financial Statements, an amendment of Accounting Research Bulletin No. 51, or SFAS 160. SFAS 141R will change how business acquisitions are accounted for and will impact financial statements both on the acquisition date and in subsequent periods. SFAS 160 will change the accounting and reporting for minority interests, which will be recharacterized as noncontrolling interests and classified as a component of equity. The provisions of SFAS 141R and SFAS 160 are effective for fiscal years beginning on or after December 15, 2008. SFAS No. 141(R) did not have an impact on our historical financial statements and will be applied to business combinations completed, if any, on or after December 27, 2008.

 

In March 2008, FASB issued SFAS No. 161, Disclosures about Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities or, SFAS 161. The new standard is intended to improve financial reporting about derivative instruments and hedging activities by requiring enhanced disclosures to enable investors to better understand their effects on an entity’s financial position, financial performance and cash flows. SFAS 161 is effective for financial statements issued for fiscal years and interim periods beginning after November 15, 2008, with early application encouraged. We are currently evaluating the potential impact of adoption of SFAS 161 and have not yet determined the impact, if any, that its adoption will have on our results of operations or financial condition.

 

From time to time, new accounting pronouncements are issued by FASB that we adopt as of the specified effective date. Unless otherwise discussed, we believe that the impact of recently issued standards, which are not yet effective, will not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements upon adoption.

 

Foreign Currency Exchange Risk

 

We maintain sales and business operations in foreign countries. As such, we have exposure to adverse changes in exchange rates associated with operating expenses of our foreign operations, but we believe this exposure to be immaterial. In late 2007, we began to accept orders for home robot products in currencies other than the U.S. dollar and we expect this practice to continue in the future. We regularly monitor the level of non-U.S. dollar accounts receivable balances to determine if any actions, including possibly entering into foreign currency forward contracts, should be taken to minimize the impact of fluctuating exchange rates on our results of operations.

 

Interest Rate Sensitivity

 

At December 27, 2008, we had unrestricted cash and cash equivalents of $40.9 million. The unrestricted cash and cash equivalents are held for working capital purposes. We do not enter into investments for trading or speculative purposes. Some of the securities in which we invest, however, may be subject to market risk. This means that a change in prevailing interest rates may cause the principal amount of the investment to fluctuate. To minimize this risk in the future, we intend to maintain our portfolio of cash equivalents in a variety of securities, commercial paper, money market funds, debt securities and certificates of deposit. Due to the short-term nature of these investments, we believe that we do not have any material exposure to changes in the fair value of our investment portfolio as a result of changes in interest rates. As of December 27, 2008, all of our cash equivalents were held in money market accounts.

 

Our exposure to market risk also relates to the increase or decrease in the amount of interest expense we must pay on our outstanding debt instruments, primarily certain borrowings under our working capital line of credit and our equipment financing facility. The advances under the working capital line of credit bear a variable rate of interest determined as a function of the prime rate or the Eurodollar rate at the time of the borrowing. The advances under the equipment financing facility bear either a variable or fixed rate of interest, at our election, determined as a function of the LIBOR rate at the time of borrowing. At December 27, 2008, we had letters of credit outstanding of $2.1 million under our working capital line of credit and no amounts outstanding under our equipment financing facility.

 

iROBOT CORPORATION

 

INDEX TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS