Some things not mentioned here, but brought up in a recent Hacker News discussion:
We don't have infrastructure for Segways. We have sidewalks, where people want to walk 2-5 km/h, and bicycle lanes, where bicycles want to go 25 km/h, and traffic lanes, where cars want to go 40+ km/h. None of these are good for the Segway, which has a top speed around 15 km/h. The wide profile left them with nowhere to go in existing infrastructure, outside of security applications like parking lots and malls.
There was a learning curve to using the Segway. Electric scooters are dead simple to use. As a city transportation device, an electric bicycle is faster and more efficient -- and uses existing infrastructure. So they essentially got out-competed in most similar markets based on features alone and ignoring the Segway's high price.
The quality of a Segway was really high -- so high that they didn't sell any new ones to existing customers. It was built with redundant systems for safety, which commodity e-bikes and e-scooters don't need. Once the best markets were saturated -- security and disability mobility -- there was nowhere to grow.
We don't have infrastructure for Segways. We have sidewalks, where people want to walk 2-5 km/h, and bicycle lanes, where bicycles want to go 25 km/h, and traffic lanes, where cars want to go 40+ km/h. None of these are good for the Segway, which has a top speed around 15 km/h. The wide profile left them with nowhere to go in existing infrastructure, outside of security applications like parking lots and malls.
There was a learning curve to using the Segway. Electric scooters are dead simple to use. As a city transportation device, an electric bicycle is faster and more efficient -- and uses existing infrastructure. So they essentially got out-competed in most similar markets based on features alone and ignoring the Segway's high price.
The quality of a Segway was really high -- so high that they didn't sell any new ones to existing customers. It was built with redundant systems for safety, which commodity e-bikes and e-scooters don't need. Once the best markets were saturated -- security and disability mobility -- there was nowhere to grow.
"Kitto daijoubu da yo." - Sakura Kinomoto