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How the Segway failed, one of the most promising
modes of transportation of the early 21st century
Exactly 15 years ago, the first segways was sold on Amazon.com - a two-wheeled electric scooter
that looks like a chariot or a moving pedestal. Then, many believed that the segway would
conquer the world and replace our cars, but today it is practically not found on the streets, remaining
a kind of symbol of a failed revolution in urban transport. The reason for this is not the difficulty of
integrating the segway into the modern road infrastructure, not the emergence of compact gyro
scooters and equally environmentally friendly, but much more comfortable electric vehicles.
Segway failed due to a gross marketing miscalculation by the developers.
Frustration The concept of an electric scooter was invented and implemented by the inventor Dean
Kamen. He presented the first Segway model to the public in 2001, after 10 years and $ 100 million
in development. A great future was predicted for the novelty. Venture capitalist John Derr, who has
successfully invested in Google, Coursera, Uber and other high-tech companies, predicted that
Segway would make its first billion faster than any other corporation in the world. It is not surprising
that investors had high hopes for the Segway: agile, comfortable, equally suitable for asphalt and
dirt, relatively fast and reasonably easy to operate. I leaned forward a little - went, leaned back -
slowed down and stopped. However, despite this, people did not buy it. According to Forbes,
Kamen expected to sell up to 10 thousand models a week, but reached this figure only 2 years after
the start of sales. As a day-to-day urban transport, Segway has suffered a complete collapse.
However, and in the corporate segment, Kamen was disappointed. According to Wired, after testing
the Segway was abandoned by the US Postal Service (an analogue of our Russian Post), the Walt
Disney conglomerate and a number of other large companies. They tried the segways, found it very
convenient ... but still they were in no hurry to transfer (or rather rearrange) their personnel on it.
Today, segways or hoverboards are used by police patrols in some countries, golf clubs, shopping
mall security guards and resourceful entrepreneurs who rent them out in parks or for city tours .
Segway's global expansion did not happen. What should have been done? The nebulousness of the
Segway's commercial prospects became apparent immediately after the start of sales. Officials in a
number of major US cities did not want to see the electric scooter on crowded streets, fearing for
the safety of other road users. The authorities of San Francisco in their city have completely
made this transport illegal. Sentence?
On really not. If desired, the safety problem could be solved - to adjust the rules of the road, to
allocate bike paths or a small piece of the roadway for the segways. For example, some countries
equated segways with bicycles and mopeds and even allowed segways to appear on
sidewalks. Segway's prospects were ruined by incorrect market positioning. The developers were
originally Segway as a daily means of transportation, forgetting that ordinary people especially in it
and not needed. They already solved the problem of moving from point A to point B in their own
way : on foot, by bicycle, by motorcycle or car. And the incredible advantages of the Segway in this
row were not immediately visible. Moreover, the new model of the electric scooter cost about 4
thousand dollars. For the general public, it seemed a more practical solution to buy an economy
class car for about the same price. And yet, how did the creators of the Segway need to build a
strategy for promoting it? First, explore the needs of your audience more deeply. Secondly, to
promote the Segway to one or two market segments, and not initially position it as a transport “for
everyone”. Kotler and KL Keller in the book “Marketing Management” wrote about the Segway: "
Perhaps, the company has achieved would be greater, she turned attention to the subjects of the
microenvironment, such as local government bodies and the army ". Kamen and his colleagues had
to focus on any one segveya unique features suitable for the solution of problems of bottlenecks. By
winning over consumers in one particular market, Segway would make them loyal customers who
would recommend the product to others over and over again. And then they would buy it. Even for 4
thousand dollars. For example, in the first market, segways could be used as a means of
transportation for the elderly or people with musculoskeletal problems . This would be a huge step
towards expanding the scope of the new vehicle. But the founders of the company missed this
opportunity. Objective reasons for the failure of the Segway, of course, were, but insurmountable -
were not. There is a solution Clayton Christensen, a professor at Harvard University and one of
the most influential business consultants in the world, said that when launching a new product,
you need to find a customer need that your new product meets better than any other product on
the market. If the goal of your business is something big, try breaking it down into smaller tasks that
will help you gradually move towards it. Start by defining your target audience and value for your
product. Make a portrait of the consumer, study his problems, desires and needs using the online
survey service

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How the segway failed

  • 1. How the Segway failed, one of the most promising modes of transportation of the early 21st century Exactly 15 years ago, the first segways was sold on Amazon.com - a two-wheeled electric scooter that looks like a chariot or a moving pedestal. Then, many believed that the segway would conquer the world and replace our cars, but today it is practically not found on the streets, remaining a kind of symbol of a failed revolution in urban transport. The reason for this is not the difficulty of integrating the segway into the modern road infrastructure, not the emergence of compact gyro scooters and equally environmentally friendly, but much more comfortable electric vehicles. Segway failed due to a gross marketing miscalculation by the developers. Frustration The concept of an electric scooter was invented and implemented by the inventor Dean Kamen. He presented the first Segway model to the public in 2001, after 10 years and $ 100 million in development. A great future was predicted for the novelty. Venture capitalist John Derr, who has successfully invested in Google, Coursera, Uber and other high-tech companies, predicted that Segway would make its first billion faster than any other corporation in the world. It is not surprising that investors had high hopes for the Segway: agile, comfortable, equally suitable for asphalt and dirt, relatively fast and reasonably easy to operate. I leaned forward a little - went, leaned back - slowed down and stopped. However, despite this, people did not buy it. According to Forbes, Kamen expected to sell up to 10 thousand models a week, but reached this figure only 2 years after the start of sales. As a day-to-day urban transport, Segway has suffered a complete collapse. However, and in the corporate segment, Kamen was disappointed. According to Wired, after testing the Segway was abandoned by the US Postal Service (an analogue of our Russian Post), the Walt
  • 2. Disney conglomerate and a number of other large companies. They tried the segways, found it very convenient ... but still they were in no hurry to transfer (or rather rearrange) their personnel on it. Today, segways or hoverboards are used by police patrols in some countries, golf clubs, shopping mall security guards and resourceful entrepreneurs who rent them out in parks or for city tours . Segway's global expansion did not happen. What should have been done? The nebulousness of the Segway's commercial prospects became apparent immediately after the start of sales. Officials in a number of major US cities did not want to see the electric scooter on crowded streets, fearing for the safety of other road users. The authorities of San Francisco in their city have completely made this transport illegal. Sentence? On really not. If desired, the safety problem could be solved - to adjust the rules of the road, to allocate bike paths or a small piece of the roadway for the segways. For example, some countries equated segways with bicycles and mopeds and even allowed segways to appear on sidewalks. Segway's prospects were ruined by incorrect market positioning. The developers were originally Segway as a daily means of transportation, forgetting that ordinary people especially in it and not needed. They already solved the problem of moving from point A to point B in their own way : on foot, by bicycle, by motorcycle or car. And the incredible advantages of the Segway in this row were not immediately visible. Moreover, the new model of the electric scooter cost about 4 thousand dollars. For the general public, it seemed a more practical solution to buy an economy class car for about the same price. And yet, how did the creators of the Segway need to build a strategy for promoting it? First, explore the needs of your audience more deeply. Secondly, to promote the Segway to one or two market segments, and not initially position it as a transport “for everyone”. Kotler and KL Keller in the book “Marketing Management” wrote about the Segway: " Perhaps, the company has achieved would be greater, she turned attention to the subjects of the microenvironment, such as local government bodies and the army ". Kamen and his colleagues had to focus on any one segveya unique features suitable for the solution of problems of bottlenecks. By winning over consumers in one particular market, Segway would make them loyal customers who would recommend the product to others over and over again. And then they would buy it. Even for 4 thousand dollars. For example, in the first market, segways could be used as a means of transportation for the elderly or people with musculoskeletal problems . This would be a huge step towards expanding the scope of the new vehicle. But the founders of the company missed this opportunity. Objective reasons for the failure of the Segway, of course, were, but insurmountable - were not. There is a solution Clayton Christensen, a professor at Harvard University and one of the most influential business consultants in the world, said that when launching a new product, you need to find a customer need that your new product meets better than any other product on the market. If the goal of your business is something big, try breaking it down into smaller tasks that will help you gradually move towards it. Start by defining your target audience and value for your product. Make a portrait of the consumer, study his problems, desires and needs using the online survey service