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Chinese Ninebot Buys US Rival Segway
An anonymous reader writes Xiaomi-backed startup Ninebot, a Chinese maker of electric-powered personal transportation products, has acquired U.S. rival Segway – the two-wheeler upright scooter which has become a running joke, synonymous with various comedic appearances (such as in U.S. sitcom Arrested Development and the 2009 comedy Paul Blart: Mall Cop), and the death of its owner at the hands of an unfortunate Segway-induced cliff fall. However Gao Lufeng, chief executive, still recognizes the potential of the Segway and has bought the U.S. company for an undisclosed amount. Lufeng confirmed that Ninebot had also secured $80mn in funding from Xiaomi and venture capital firm Sequoia Capital.
Can we keep bias out of the summaries, please?
Take a city tour on a Segway, and you'll never want to do a walking tour again. RIP Segway, hello Seg-ray.
It was supposed to change the world, but it didn't.
But, I was in a busy downtown once and saw an older gentleman with only one leg riding on a Segway ... I bet for him, the Segway was no joke.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
From (the last sentence of) the linked article:
Ceci n'est pas une signature.
Huh, what? What is that bizarre sentence supposed to mean? That there is only one Segway scooter in the world and its owner died? Or the entire company fell off a cliff and only one person, the owner, died?
Or did was the same person killed in two movies?
WTF?
I'm not even mad.
"The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D... Dean Kamen, inventor of the Segway, is still alive...
Been having fun with a solowheel clone you can get on bangood and aliexpress for about $400 that is just one wheel. Have taken it camping and ran it on gravel, packed dirt, grass etc and it does a pretty good job. Super fun at campsites particularly. Even last summer in BC I used it to haul stuff to and from the car to the beach. It's infinitely more useful than a Segway since it only weighs like 21 pounds. I used to ride it through downtown on my way to work but haven't felt like it lately since it attracts so much attention, where people stop you to ask all the questions like how fast does it go (12km/h), how far does it go (10km), how much did it cost etc.
Here's a video of when I first started learning it. I'm much more comfortable on it now, I can even pull my 2 kids in a wagon while riding it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
I never really understand the comments, particularly on a tech site like this, such as 'why don't you just walk you lazy'... For one thing walking isn't that great of exercise anyway if you are in any kind of shape (ie. not round). Secondly, this thing is twice as fast as walking and effectively doubles your range of parking options etc, and it's actually fun.
-Xoltri
Company valuation went over a cliff.
Too soon?
Let this be a lesson to everyone else.
The multi-millionaire owner of the company that makes Segway motorised scooters has died in a freak accident while riding one of his vehicles.
Jimi Heselden, 62, was found dead in a river after plunging 80 feet over a limestone cliff near his home.
He was riding a rugged country version of the two-wheeled Segway when tragedy struck.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1315518/Segway-tycoon-Jimi-Heselden-dies-cliff-plunge-scooters.html
will be the real deal.....
Maybe the upshot to the purchase is that the Segway might now be priced in an affordable range. I'll take a Segway for 75% off, please.
Can you actually have a business rival for a product no one wants?
#DeleteChrome
The Segway is already being used to great effect by filmmakers working in close quarters. A handheld active gimbal like the DJI Ronin (and its cheaper, lighter, new brother, the "M" version), rigged on a Segway, and you've got the ability to do some very cool tracking shots. All without having to do a lot of the elaborate staging that might otherwise have been needed, and without needing a as large a crew transporting, deploying, and operating more traditional equipment.
Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
Chinese on Segway clones is even more funny. Hope they fall off a cliff too.
This tech is soon going to be coupled with:
a) Robots
b) Self driving 2-wheel vehicles
But here's the more important takeaway from this:
Ninebot stole Segway's technology. Segway sued them and the case went nowhere as Ninebot's profits soared. Then Ninebot bought Segway.
See the business model here?
------ The best brain training is now totally free : )
Hopefully, they'll be manufacturing iBots, too.
For those who don't know, the technology behind Segway was originally developed for use by the ultimate robotic wheelchair. The last iteration before manufacturing was shut down (iBot 4000) could climb stairs, effortlessly navigate curbs, raise the user to eye-level by going up on 2 wheels a-la-Segway, drop down to 4 wheels for extra stability/traction (like at the beach, in grass, etc). I believe it even had a feature that allowed it to automatically climb onto its rack on the back of the user's car after he moved himself into the front seat & return to the car door after parking at the destination.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I...
They have the most powerful supercomputer, they are starting to buy US businesses out. Their growth rate is still 7%. They have the largest online population in the world. It's looking alot like China are going to be retaining their number 1 spot for a lonnnnnnnnng time.
I wasn't aware that Segway had a rival. I learned something new.
"It might this time. Chinese manufacturers may find a way to bring the price down enough to make them so common that they lose their stigma and are affordable to a larger audience."
They already have. Or maybe they haven't. There's technically nothing standing in the way of building cheaper models or clones. Google for: segway unicycle. You'll get links and photos of devices (seems quite odd calling these things vehicles) that look like a Segway without the handles, or a skateboard where you stand facing straight forward rather than sideways. Maybe the gyro patents (as these appear to be the main technical "innovation" of the Segway system) are standing in the way of a massive price drop? They should cost no more than a mid-range laptop at Chinese prices.
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I have noticed a lot of Chinese companies buying their rivals in US.
I hope this isn't a pattern.