Segway-Ninebot eyes bigger market share in country, world with green scooters

Segway-Ninebot, a Chinese pioneer in the global short-distance transportation market, will push to expand its presence in the electric kickscooter sector after it reached the milestone of selling over 10 million electric kickscooters around the world.

Chen Zhongyuan, president and chief technology officer of Segway-Ninebot, said as a smart mobility company, it aims to offer people zero-emission transportation tools for a variety of travel needs within a radius of 20 kilometers.

Segway-Ninebot, already the world's largest electric kickscooter maker, will ratchet up efforts to further tap into the market by fully leveraging its research and development prowess, global business layout and manufacturing advantages in China, Chen said. The comments came after the accumulative sales of its electric kickscooters exceeded 10 million by the end of last year.

The move is part of the company's broader push to accelerate transformation in short-distance smart travel. Currently, Segway-Ninebot has established a presence in sectors including self-balancing scooters, e-scooters, e-bikes and all-terrain vehicles. It is also actively exploring emerging businesses such as delivery robots, robotic lawnmowers and other innovative businesses. Its products and services are available in 225 countries and regions.

Relying on its advanced artificial intelligence and robotics technologies, Segway-Ninebot said it will devote more resources to popularizing electric kickscooters, which are expected to grow from a niche into a bigger market.

Boston Consulting Group forecasts that the global e-scooter market will reach up to $50 billion by 2025, with Europe and the United States accounting for 30 percent of the market, and China accounting for 16 percent.

Giovanni Moscatelli, managing director and partner of BCG Middle East, said earlier in a report that, "E-scooters, ride-hailing, and other emerging mobility modes can be essential components in the urban transport system of the future, gradually replacing automobiles."

Sensing big growth potential, Segway-Ninebot said it has strong manufacturing experience in mass-producing e-scooters, as well as excellent quality control and supply chain management capabilities in securing key components such as chips and electrical machinery to maintain stable production and meet growing consumer demand.

Currently, its production capacity of electric kickscooters stands at 4 million units a year, Chen said.

The company's R&D strength is also expected to give it an edge over competitors. As of the first half of 2021, Segway-Ninebot had over 1,200 R&D staff, accounting for more than 40 percent of its total headcount and it has applied for 4,434 patents in total, including crucial technologies such as self-balancing control, ultra-broadband wireless positioning and vision-based multi-sensor indoor positioning.

"We attach high importance to innovation," Chen said.

More importantly, the company's sizable database can also help boost R&D efficiency. "The total cycling mileage of our users has exceeded 5 billion kilometers. Such a huge amount of cycling data is very helpful in R&D.We have a unified product management platform which enables all departments to directly access product data, empower product design and truly define products according to user needs," he added.

Data from market research company QYResearch showed Segway-Ninebot became the world's largest electric kickscooter maker in 2020, selling over 2.3 million e-scooters that year. In the same time frame, the overall output of China's e-scooters hit 3.64 million units, accounting for 85.52 percent of the global total.

"We want to provide customers with cutting-edge technologies and smart functions that make their rides more comfortable and convenient," Chen said.

The company has partnered with world-renowned brands to make customized electric kickscooters.

For instance, it has unveiled a limited-edition e-scooter Maserati MC by partnering with the Italian supercar manufacturer. It is also behind Xiaomi's special edition Mi Electric Scooter Pro 2, a foldable electric scooter that is made in partnership with the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team.

Segway-Ninebot was established in 2015 after Beijing-based Ninebot acquired Segway, which was established in the United States in 1999. The background laid a foundation for its global business layout.

The company said it has extensive partnerships with more than 1,000 overseas retailers and e-commerce platforms, including Amazon, Costco, Walmart, Athena, Best-Buy and Indiegogo.

By the end of 2021, Segway-Ninebot also had more than 1,700 offline franchise stores in China.