They made their movie debut in the 1979 hit Back to the Future, Velcro versions have long been a substitute, and now Nike has announced the first mainstream commercial production of self-lacing shoes, the HyperAdapt.
Photo source: Nike.com
The innovation strategy followed by Nike for this launch is the integration of existing components combined in a compact way to work in the austere and limited space of a shoe. How they put all this together in masterful packaging is clearly covered in this video.
Like a lot of new product introductions, this offering is in the earliest of its product life cycle, so it’s expensive and focused on a niche market. Expect pricing to come down and functionality to go up as the commercialization life cycle matures and the technology becomes more ubiquitous. Someday this approach could be mainstream in all shoes.