Wow Who Saw This Coming? - Ninebot Acquires Segway

[energetic]

By the way, I was viewing Segway videos on YouTube and bumped into this from NineBot.

[GregRice]

Here's something to think about on the future of Segway.

http://www.bloombergview.com/article...hance-in-china

[bvelke]

Originally Posted by airdale

I was shocked it only sold for $80 mil....

The announcement didn't say that. It said that the buyer raised $80 million in venture capital but it did not say what the purchase price was. It could have been much more. The Reuters report more explicitly said that several companies "invested $80 million into Ninebot to help finance the acquisition."

To me, the more shocking revelation was that Ninebot started as a crowdfunded project just two years ago.

[Gihgehls]

Originally Posted by energetic

By the way, I was viewing Segway videos on YouTube and bumped into this from NineBot.

Nice CGI logo on the building, hahah.

EDIT: Also looks like the ninebots are driven by an ARM processor of some kind. You can see them using jflash in the video.

[dale@thecoys.net]

Originally Posted by energetic

By the way, I was viewing Segway videos on YouTube and bumped into this from NineBot.

Interesting caption/title on the video.

[Tritium]

Originally Posted by energetic

This is the reason why I have placed an order for an i2 SE before something changes. No idea what will be changed though yet.

As for the $80m, I wonder as well. But it also reflects that Segway was struggling(?) to get their products in a flying market mood?

Every glider in this forum has mentioned that Segway could have done something better, but perhaps their BOD knows more things than we do... or not.

Why would you buy an old companies product right after they went under new ownership in a different country?

[airdale]

Originally Posted by Tritium

Why would you buy an old companies product right after they went under new ownership in a different country?

Well maybe at some point will be the 57 Chevy?????? Im sure it will take a lot of time for the American market to be impacted......

[energetic]

Originally Posted by dale@thecoys.net

Interesting caption/title on the video.

Yes, it is very funny actually.

Originally Posted by Tritium

Why would you buy an old companies product right after they went under new ownership in a different country?

I was planning to get a second Segway anyway. I prefer to get one right now, before anything changes. Lower prices can be achieved if the production line goes to China. If the price go down in the future, then I will have to blame myself for purchasing a Segway at the current price.

But going through your question again, why not buying one now?

Originally Posted by airdale

Well maybe at some point will be the 57 Chevy?????? Im sure it will take a lot of time for the American market to be impacted......

I would find it hard to imagine a Segway classic, but it is possible. Another poster mentioned that we may see an increase in value for any used Segway. Who knows.

[Jendrik]

As I watched the video and read : ""Persuing the ideo of a high-quality life".
I thought : "...with a low quality product....the Ninebot".

I did ride the Ninebot and I can tell you : piece of junk.
Why : riding fells very unkomfortable, turning feels unsafe, cheap plastic everywhere. The guide told me not to ride too fast otherwise it will fall over to the front and my dentist will have work to do.

The video also gives the impression of people at Ninebot researching things. Instead they are just copying/stealing from Segway. In China "copying" is cool but not in the US or in any other country.

The acquisition of Segway was only because of the patents and to get the intellectual property issues settled.

I hope Ninebot will stay for their word that they want the brand "made in the U.S." and that they do not modify the quality of the Original Segway product.

[rwoynaro]

Originally Posted by Jendrik

As I watched the video and read : ""Persuing the ideo of a high-quality life".
I thought : "...with a low quality product....the Ninebot".

I did ride the Ninebot and I can tell you : piece of junk.
Why : riding fells very unkomfortable, turning feels unsafe, cheap plastic everywhere. The guide told me not to ride too fast otherwise it will fall over to the front and my dentist will have work to do.

The video also gives the impression of people at Ninebot researching things. Instead they are just copying/stealing from Segway. In China "copying" is cool but not in the US or in any other country.

The acquisition of Segway was only because of the patents and to get the intellectual property issues settled.

I hope Ninebot will stay for their word that they want the brand "made in the U.S." and that they do not modify the quality of the Original Segway product.

Just a quick addition here relating to "I can tell you : piece of junk." I went to a Segway dealer two weeks ago, and we took apart my segway and at the same time, the tech was nice enough to show me basically all of the internals of the segway, I had never seen it before. Inside the gearboxes, inside the battery, etc, most things that could come apart he had on the workbenches and showed me them. We assembled my new SE right out of the box. I was very very impressed by the quality of the segway; I had expected far more plastic. I remarked to some of my co-workers that both my ATV and car have far more plastic and cheap manufacturing than the segway. I have a greater understanding of the cost of the segway consequently.