PROFITEERING

Nov 15, 20243 min read

Wheelchair Profiteering, Part VIII: Wheelchair Design and the “Weakest Link” - Erik Kondo

A bicycle with a high quality frame could last decades with regular replacement of components. On the other hand, manual wheelchairs are...

Nov 15, 20243 min read

Wheelchair Designs: Proprietary Integrated vs. Aftermarket Modular - Erik Kondo

There are two fundamentally different ways you can design a wheelchair. A. PROPRIERTY INTEGRATED DESIGN : You can design and build the...

Oct 29, 20242 min read

Lessons in Wheelchair Profiteering: The Subscription Based Business Model - Erik Kondo

When you build a wheelchair, there are two opposite approaches you can take. Make the wheelchair as easy to repair and replace parts as...

Oct 8, 20244 min read

Is the High Cost of Wheelchairs Only Due to the Economics of “Economy of Scale”? – Erik Kondo

The Legacy Wheelchair Industry has successfully convinced much of society that their pricing structure is simply the reality of the...

Sep 21, 20243 min read

Understanding the Difference Between Robust and Resilient Wheelchairs, and Why it Matters - Erik Kondo

Wheelchairs that are sturdy and don’t break easily are Robust. Wheelchairs that are easy and affordable to repair are Resilient....

Sep 21, 20242 min read

Why Are Low Cost and Functional Manual Wheelchairs NOT Widely Available? - Erik Kondo

If we are to believe the marketing of the Legacy Wheelchair Industry, there can be only two types of manual wheelchairs, either very...

Sep 12, 20243 min read

Why Are Wheelchairs So Expensive? - Erik Kondo

Active manual wheelchairs in high income countries typically cost between $5,000 and $10,000+. This is a lot of money. Therefore, many...

Mar 26, 20245 min read

Cheap Wheelchairs Part III: Survival of the Cheapest – Erik Kondo

When we typically think of evolution, we think of “ survival of the fittest” , where evolution is the process of something getting...

Mar 21, 20243 min read

Cheap Wheelchairs Part II: The Throwaway Wheelchair Cycle – Erik Kondo

In Cheap Wheelchairs Part I , I discussed how the cheapest wheelchairs manufactured in China and sold wholesale on Alibaba.com are also...

Mar 16, 20243 min read

Cheap Wheelchairs, Part I: You Get What You Pay For - Erik Kondo

There are millions of manual wheelchair users in the United States. The majority are using standard manual wheelchairs. These wheelchairs...

Nov 14, 20235 min read

Wheelchair Profiteering, Part VII: Here is How I Would Do it (If I had No Ethics) – Erik Kondo

Let’s imagine I own a large and influential wheelchair manufacturing company. And my goal is to make the most amount of money possible...

Nov 10, 20234 min read

Wheelchair Profiteering, Part VI: Exploring Solutions – Erik Kondo

Pointing out problems is fairly easy. Coming up with realistic solutions is much harder. So, lets take a look at a meaningful solution. ...

Nov 9, 20231 min read

Wheelchair Profiteering, Part V: Unneeded Upselling – Erik Kondo

Profiteering by Upselling Unneeded Assistive Technology This type of profiteering happens when the upselling is for items that the...

Nov 9, 20232 min read

Wheelchair Profiteering, Part IV: The Joy of Double Dipping – Erik Kondo

I am continuing on the theme from Part III which discusses how Ultra-Customization is used by the For-Profit Wheelchair Industry to...

Nov 7, 20236 min read

Wheelchair Profiteering, Part III: The Strategy of Ultra-Customization – Erik Kondo

In Part II , I expanded on the money making strategy of Ultra-Commoditization . While this strategy is effective, it pales in comparison...

Nov 6, 20234 min read

Wheelchairs Profiteering, Part II: The Wheelchair as a Widget – Erik Kondo

Let’s imagine that we own an industrial manufacturing company in China or some other industrialized country. We have excess manufacturing...

Nov 2, 20234 min read

Wheelchair Profiteering, Part I: How the For-Profit Industry Makes Money – Erik Kondo

There are two primary methods used by the For-Profit Wheelchair Industry to generate profits. They can be summarized as follows: 1. ...

Jun 21, 20233 min read

The Misalignment Problem of the DME Industry – Erik Kondo

Recent developments in artificial intelligence have brought to the forefront the issue of the Misalignment Problem. The concept is that...