Amazon Takes Its Roomba Back to the Store After iRobot Struggles

There are two ways to look at the collapse of Amazon.com Inc.’s deal to buy iRobot Corp., which makes Roomba vacuum cleaners. The one that led the companies’ joint statement Monday cited “no path to regulatory approval in the European Union.”

But there’s another potential explanation: buyer’s remorse.

In the 17 months since Amazon agreed to the deal, iRobot’s business has faltered. Faced with the choice of going to war with regulators — potentially in a years-long quagmire on both sides of the Atlantic — or cutting its losses, Amazon chose to bail.

From its home base in Bedford, Massachusetts, iRobot ...