The European Commission warned Amazon to pledge to fairly rank iRobot's market rivals if it seeks approval for the $1.4 billion acquisition.
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EU Commission Continues Worry on Anti-Competition
For the past months, the EU watchdog has been vocal in its objection to Amazon's acquisition of iRobot, citing that it will create unfair competition in the robot vacuum cleaner industry. "The main issue is to be sure to have a fair treatment of all the different actors," acting commissioner for competition, Didier Reynders stated.
Moreover, the commission is worried that once Amazon gets the approval for iRobot it will eventually demote other robot vacuum cleaners on its platform. For instance, the company could place its own products with promotional labels such as "Amazon's choice" or "Works with Alexa."
Hence, Reynders suggested that Amazon should pledge that it would correctly place and rank the rival vacuum cleaners on its platform to ensure fair treatment regardless of ownership.
Amazon, iRobot Relationship
The negotiation between iRobot and Amazon has been over a year already. Last August 2022, the e-commerce giant announced its plans to include the Roomba robot vacuum as part of the company's long list of smart devices. Meanwhile, iRobot has been welcoming the acquisition since then.
"I'm hugely excited to be a part of Amazon and to see what we can build together for customers in the years ahead," iRobot CEO Colin Angle shared in a previous statement.
As of writing, Amazon has yet to issue a response on whether it will abide by Reynenders' suggestion to pledge. Previously, Meta and Amazon cleared the Competition and Market Authority's antitrust investigation after pledging to improve services.
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