Segway did not understand their would-be customer base. They (or maybe just the boss/inventor) were certain that self-balancing, two-wheeled devices would re-make the world. Wrong.
Whatever they did (or did not do) for market research was terribly flawed. Far too many "hip" people absolutely HATED the concept of a machine that was seen as an expensive replacement for walking, and often said so on their product review/editorial websites. Segway attempts to change that the impression of what are now referred to as "influencers" were ineffective, and eventually discontinued.
Pricing was WAY out of line for individuals, which is why, after Gen1, there was almost zero effort to market to individuals. Bottom line: there were not anywhere enough customers interested in an expensive self-balancing two-wheeled device. Segway's internal efforts to achieve cost reductions were not effective. Sales numbers never went up enough to get any real economies of scale.
Self-balancing two-wheelers have found a new place under the new owners as less-expensive devices (more toy-like than Gen 1 or Gen 2), without the materials and systems redundancies that made the original Segway HT/PT as strong and as safe as it was (and still is).
Back in the day, I would have performed a robust market research study. It would have saved investors a TON of money. What I would do now is moot. Patents for self-balancing personal transports either have expired, or are about to do so. Kamen's "IT" became "that thing", and the fairy-dust marketing aura is long gone. The ship sailed more than a decade ago.
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