It’s the end of the road for the two-wheeler, with Segway’s announcement on Tuesday. This is ending the production of the Segway Personal Transporter (PT), its signature self-balancing scooter. Manufacturing will end on July 15th at the company’s Bedford, New Hampshire, factory where they will lay off 21 employees.
Electric-powered two-wheelers of many varieties have saturated the market since the original Segway’s debut 20 years ago.
The iconic and oft-ridiculed scooter only accounted for 1.5% of the company’s revenue. However, the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting disruption in global manufacturing and supply chains were not factors, according to Segway.
They recognize this decision may come as a disappointment to their strong and loyal following among private owners. These are private owners who view Segway as one of the more innovative creations of the early 21st century. This was a statement from company president Judy Cai.
The company is grateful for the support and loyalty of their consumers. They’re proud of the impact their products have made on their customers’ lives and the reputation of the Segway brand.
But then, those predictions gave way to ridicule. It had been one of the top 10 biggest tech failures of the decade in Time magazine.
It cited its inflated price point of $5,000 to $7,000 and it’s confusing classification as a road vehicle. Its classification requires licensing in some countries.
Segway has faced Dwindling Revenues
It was a common sight at malls and airports, used by law enforcement or security guards. It is also often seen transporting herds of tourists around certain cities.
The original two-wheeler was popular with city tour guides and some police forces, but not the public.
The much-hyped self-balancing vehicle had a launch in 2001 and was promising to revolutionise personal transport. It was invented by US engineer Dean Kamen, debuted with much fanfare, but struggled to make a profit.
In the face of diminishing revenue, Segway ended up being sold off twice to investors. Once, in 2009, by British investor, Jimi Heselden and then again, in 2013, by Summit Strategic Investments.
Jimi Heselden, died in an ironic, tragic Segway crash in 2010, while Summit Strategic Investments tried “refocusing” Segway for years. But that project never saw completion.
Ninebot, the Chinese rival that it previously accused of copying its signature scooter, acquired Segway in 2015. Since then, the company has become the predominant supplier of e-scooters.
It has supplied e-scooters to the burgeoning shared scooter industry and it continues to develop new, self-balancing vehicles. The egg-shaped S-pod debuted at this year’s CES. Inspired by the gyrosphere from Jurassic World, S-pod is a wheelchair with a top speed of 24 miles per hour.
But the prototype wheelchair crashed during a demonstration at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) exhibition in Las Vegas.
For some further trivia, the Segway also served as a comedy vehicle in the 2009 Hollywood film Paul Blart: Mall Cop. In the movie, actor and comedian Kevin James played a security guard who patrolled a shopping mall on a Segway.
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