Will Dyson wipe the floor?
Dyson launched its first robotic vacuum
cleaner on September 4th. The machine is called “the Dyson 360 Eye”.
It will be available in Japan from early next year.
Dyson is a company famous for its robotic
products, and has a strong performance in the industry. The company claims that
the “Eye” has many innovations, which will put it far ahead its competitors.
However, the “Eye” is an expensive and high-end product, which limit its sales
in the market, where other vacuums are far less expensive.
Dyson has a vision of customers’ “wants”:
the company knows that vacuuming is tiring, and people are looking for
replacements for such labor (maybe a robotic vacuum). However, what Dyson is
not aware of the “needs” behind this “wants”. What customers are really seeking
is a clean and dust-free environment, where they could enjoy their leisure
time, or for company users, where they could work efficiently. They are not
really looking for an expensive robotic machine. Let’s think it this way, if I
have enough to spend this much on one “Eye”, I could also hire somebody else,
or contract the chores to another company. There are many solutions to
customers’ needs to be clean and dust-free, and though this robotic vacuum may
match the needs, it is possible that the “Eye” cannot compete with other
lighter, and more efficient vacuum in the market.
The link to the full article is on economist.com: http://www.economist.com/news/business-and-finance/21615497-dyson-launches-its-first-robotic-vacuum-cleaner-hoovering-up-competition
This is an interesting insight, Rachel. I like how you related the article to our class discussion on consumer needs and wants. It does seem that for some, the need for a clean environment might not lead them to purchase a very expensive machine, when they can achieve this need in other ways like hiring a cleaning service.
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