The Hairdryer of the Future

Apparently it takes a world class vacuum cleaner manufacturer to make the next gen hair dryer. Dyson took 4 years, 100 engineers, and $70MM to develop what is supposed to be a faster, quieter, and lighter tool vs. the standard hairdryer. The design is super sleek; the gaping hole in the center of the unit is unlike any other hairdryer on the market. It comes with magnetic styling attachments. It comes with a cool pad that keeps it from slipping off your bathroom counter. Influencers are excited about it.

Does the fact that a vacuum cleaner manufacturer can bring innovation to a category that it has no prior experience in pave the way for other experts to mark their names on new fields? I’m vaguely reminded of Michael Jordan, the greatest basketball player of all time, taking a break from the sport to play baseball for the Chicago White Sox. He wasn’t that special of a baseball player. (He returned to basketball shortly thereafter.) Does Dyson’s incredibly aggressive investment and launch of a product priced at $399 (well above the 30 bones you might pay at Target) pave the way for, say, Tesla to create a bicycle? Or perhaps Rowenta, a leading maker of irons, should start making flat irons for hair.

I continue to be skeptical. This launch seems eerily analogous to Cisco’s marketing of the Flip Video in 2006. It was a cool tapeless video camera that fit into the palm of your hand. As mobile phone cameras went from ok to really good, Cisco decided to exit this and all of its other consumer businesses in 2011. I had a Flip cam and loved it. I was very sad to see Cisco put it to rest. In a wacky world, Apple or Samsung could make a mobile device that also dries wet hair. If this were ever to happen, would Dyson have to pull the plug, so to speak, on its high-priced machine?

There needs to be a word for an expert in one area scaling down their technology to enter a new area in order to capture a incremental revenue streams. It seems like a wild departure from core competencies, but you could also argue that it’s lateral thinking at it apex. The Germans probably have a word for this.

It will be interesting to track how this plays out for Dyson.

[Click here to watch James Dyson’s launch video.]