Segway - Still Off-balance? |
ICMR HOME | Case Studies Collection Please note: This case study was compiled from published sources, and is intended to be used as a basis for class discussion. It is not intended to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a management situation. Nor is it a primary information source. |
||||
"The bloom is off the rose about the Segway, I think a lot of it was ballyhoo. Now, with people looking at the practicality and cost and possible liabilities, I think they're abandoning their enthusiasm about it". - Tom Ammiano, Supervisor, San Francisco County, in 2003. "It's hard to say whether I should be ecstatic that we've even sold one of these things for $5,000 or be devastated that cities aren't filled with them. It's difficult to gauge what my expectation should be." - Dean Kamen, Founder of Segway Inc., and Inventor of the Segway Human Transporter, in 2004. Introduction
This type of coverage - where the positives were almost invariably accompanied by negatives - was typical of the kind of press that the Segway HT seemed to draw, ever since its launch in 2001.
But the company that created the device was not willing to accept defeat so easily. It came up with better variations and improved versions of the transporter. The company also intensified its distribution and marketing efforts. However, critics of the Segway HT remained unimpressed - for them, the company was wasting resources on a lost cause. Segway - Still Off-balance? - Next Page>>
1] "Segway Hits City Roadblock," www.wired.com, January 19, 2003. |
Case Studies Links:-
Case Studies,
Short Case Studies,
Simplified Case Studies.
Other Case Studies:-
Multimedia Case Studies,
Cases in Other Languages.
Business Reports Link:-
Business Reports.
Books:-
Text Books,
Work Books,
Case Study Volumes.