Segway Segues into China

[Randy W]

from SCMP's Abacus

 

What is NINEBOT

 

Back to the Future hoverboards are finally becoming mainstream thanks to a Chinese company

Ninebot is the company that bought Segway and took them to the mainstream. The company is now selling self-balancing scooters, unicycles, hover skates, and even robots. It is also one of the main suppliers behind the US scooter craze.

 

 

The trend has grown so much that online commentators started claiming we are entering the process of “cabbagification” -- tech products that were once expensive and advanced have become as widespread as, uh, cabbage. The term became popular after a video of a farmer driving a Ninebot self-balancing scooter through rural China became viral in the country at the beginning of 2018.

 

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Ninebot has also come out with other products, some under its own brand and some under Segway's. There's the self-balancing scooter that turns into a robot which follows you around carrying your stuff, the “hover shoes” which work like roller skates, and the unicycle that comes with a warning that it’s not made for everyone (oh, and it’s also available in a Batman version).

 

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And then there’s how Ninebot got into the business to begin with. Now that the company owns Segway’s technology, its design pedigree is assured. But the purchase only came after years of legal battles, where the American company accused Ninebot of ripping off its designs.