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INNOVATION
& DESIGN Home Page Architecture Brand Equity Auto Design Game Room SMALLBIZ Smart Answers Success Stories Today's Tip INVESTING Investing: Europe Annual Reports BW 50 S&P Picks & Pans Stock Screeners Free S&P Stock Report SCOREBOARDS Hot Growth 100 Mutual Funds Info Tech 100 S&P 500 B-SCHOOLS Undergrad Programs MBA Blogs MBA Profiles MBA Rankings Who's Hiring Grads | | JANUARY 16, 2003 INNOVATION Is Segway Going Anywhere? Entrepreneur inventor Dean Kamen's trouble finding a market for his scooter is a reminder that a novel idea isn't necessarily a hot one
Well, don't throw away your walking shoes just yet. A year after the Segway was unveiled in a flurry of cover stories and network morning-show appearances, the scooter finds itself with more detractors than customers. Consumer and health advocates warn of possible injuries and rising obesity. City governments worry about chaos on their sidewalks. And key execs are heading for the exits. All that before the scooter is even available to consumers. OUT IN THE COLD. Workers at businesses and municipalities that have tested the transporters aren't exactly sending in rave reviews, either. "You can't keep warm if you're not walking," says a postal worker in Concord, N.H. "You end up like a frozen popsicle on a stick." In the latest sign that all is not well with privately held Segway, its president, George Muller, the highly regarded former president of Subaru America, resigned in late December after less than a year on the job. Muller said he left because he decided he didn't want to uproot his family by moving closer to the company's Manchester (N.H.) headquarters. That may be. But his resignation also came right after Vernon R. Loucks Jr., a close friend of Kamen's and former CEO of Baxter International, was named CEO. Says Muller of his next move: "I'd like to have the top job." Muller's departure comes as a blow to the company, which was counting on his automotive sales-and-marketing expertise to help launch the Segway. And it follows earlier turmoil at the young company. The prior president and three senior marketing execs have quit in the past two years. "I was disappointed that he left," says Kamen of Mullers. "He has a lot of experience with dealerships, marketing, and distribution, and sooner or later, the company has to go there." Make that later. Kamen says the planned March launch of sales via Amazon.com remains on track. The online retailer will be the exclusive seller of the scooter, which will retail for $4,950 on the site. The company has no plans as yet to sell the Segway in stores. "Should we sell it like consumer products or cars or jet skis or snowmobiles?" says Kamen. "It's not clear, so we're looking at various options." HITTING THE BRAKES. Until the company figures that one out, it seems to be placing its hopes on selling to the cash-strapped local governments that have dissed the vehicle as a potential hazard. In December, San Francisco banned it, while Sacramento, Santa Cruz, and other California cities are considering similar action. Some big states, including Massachusetts, New York, and Texas, have yet to make the scooter legal on their sidewalks. And though its top speed is 12 mph, pending legislation elsewhere would restrict it to 7 mph. Cover stories and morning talk shows put the Segway on the map a year ago. But its chances of becoming the little scooter that could look increasingly iffy.  By Faith Keenan in Boston Get BusinessWeek directly on your desktop with our RSS feeds.  Add BusinessWeek news to your Web site with our headline feed. Click to buy an e-print or reprint of a BusinessWeek or BusinessWeek Online story or video. To subscribe online to BusinessWeek magazine, please click here. Learn more, go to the BusinessWeekOnline home page  | | JANUARY |
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