Business Blunders
Why the Segway Failed
Sometimes, being first isn’t all that great
When they first came out in 2001, these two-wheeled personal transporters seemed like some alien device straight out of a sci-fi movie.
Obviously, when something spectacular like this comes out, people are bound to get a little curious and try it out. The hype around Segway was the modern-day equivalent of the ballyhoo around Tesla’s latest, striking product — the Cybertruck.
The inventor of the Segway, Dean Kamen, said:
“I believe the Segway HT will do for walking, what the calculator did for pad and pencil. Get there quicker. You’ll go further.”
But by 2007, Segway only met a measly 1% of its sales target. And in 2015, the company decided to give up and was acquired by Ninebot, its Chinese rival.
So why did this so-called life-changing machine fail in the market?
Let’s find out.
It Was a ‘Dangerous’ Vehicle
What you’re about to read will blow your mind. Please take a deep breath and be prepared.
In 2010, the owner of the Segway company, Jimi Heselden, lost control of his Segway and fell off a cliff. Unfortunately, the injuries were severe and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
And this wasn’t an isolated case. Remember that movie “Paul Blart: Mall Cop?” There’s a funny scene in which Paul Blart crashes his Segway into a car. Well, it wasn't just a figment of the scriptwriter’s imagination — people actually crashed or fell off their Segways a lot of times.
Even George W. Bush, the strongest person on the planet at some point, crashed his Segway once. And there are a whole bunch of videos on YouTube where you can see people losing control of their Segways.
Some Segway users were lucky enough to simply have a funny ‘Segway fall’ story, but others experienced critical injuries, like facial trauma, brain damage, and serious fractures.
As the saying goes: “Better late than never.” It was far safer for customers to hurt their legs a little bit and walk to their destination instead of passing away in a stupid Segway crash.
There Was No Robust Safety Regulation for Segway Use
It wasn’t uncommon for people to ride a Segway without wearing a helmet. The lawmakers were busy keeping serious crimes in check, and imposing strict regulations on Segway use wasn’t really a high priority.
Frankly speaking, even the authorities were still trying to figure out this new trend. So basically, no one knew what exactly they were doing and this whole ‘Segway thing’ was a huge experiment — a super fun but risky experiment.
From a physical safety perspective, riding a Segway is no different from riding a scooter, a motorcycle, an ATV, or any other similar vehicle.
If you’ve only driven a car your entire life, then you probably wouldn’t know that there’s a whole range of safety gear that’s necessary to ride two-wheelers.
For instance, motorcyclists wear at least a few of these accessories to keep themselves safe on the road: leather gloves, kevlar shirt, chest protector, knee guards, neck brace, and the list goes on.
But with Segways, people barely used a helmet, let alone wore protective gear. As time passed, the authorities did step in and enforced rules for Segway use.
Segway Needed a Better Pricing Strategy
Getting a brand new Segway in its early days would cost a customer a whopping $5,000. This might have been equivalent to an average consumer’s half-yearly savings — a hefty price to pay for not walking, isn’t it?
With this amount of money, someone could easily buy a motorbike or a scooter. Yes, Segways were awesome. They could take a person from one place to another with minimal effort. They could make the user look cool. They could make the rider feel like “Phil of the Future.” But was all this worth $5,000? Well, the market didn’t think so and Segways failed to go mainstream.
Instead of charging a one-time hefty price, the company should have strategized a pay-per-use pricing model like modern-day electric scooters.
However, there were technological limitations during those times. Smartphones weren’t as developed as they are now. Not sure if it was possible to develop an electric-scooter-unlocking app like Lime in 2001.
The Design Needed Some Serious Changes
Sure, the idea of letting a machine do the walking for you seems convenient. But the Segway was a fickle machine and couldn’t be trusted at all times.
With time, inventors came up with better and cheaper versions of the Segway. In 2013, the hoverboard came into the market. Unlike Segways, this device didn’t have any handles and was fully controlled by foot. This reduced the chances of injuries as the user could easily jump off the hoverboard if something went wrong.
In 2017, companies like Bird and Lime unleashed hundreds of dockless e-scooters on the streets. They’re not entirely safe either, but they’re smaller and lighter than the Segway. They’re also cheaper — way cheaper.
Conclusion
Just because a new product creates excitement in the market doesn’t mean it’s going to sell.
Apparently, Segway was just a prototype for the advanced e-scooters we see these days.
Do you think that modern e-scooters could be made safer and better?
