Hoverboards, which self-balancing Segway-like scooters that don’t levitate are known as, are one of the hottest new products of the year. Going for as low as around $270 and all the way up to $2,000, hoverboards might be a hot Christmas gift for many people, assuming they’ll be able to find one in stores.
Walmart, Best Buy, Target, RadioShack and others aren’t likely to sell the popular devices just yet, so don’t expect any hot Black Friday deals on hoverboards from them just yet.
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Many issues might prevent these major retailers from actually stocking and selling hoverboards this Christmas, with patent trouble being one of them.
“It’s definitely something we’re looking into, definitely something we want to provide our customers, but we probably won’t have it for the holiday season,” Walmart.com spokesperson Jaeme Laczkowski told BuzzFeed. “I wouldn’t peg it to [patent issues]. That’s one of the factors, of course, but we’re looking at all the factors. There are myriad factors that go into a decision like this.”
Mark Cuban recently purchased the exclusive license on the American patent for a “two-wheel, self-balancing personal vehicle,” – or what most people call a hoverboard these days. Cuban said that Walmart is “in for a nightmare,” if it imports boards that are made by the company whose license he acquired. Initially, Walmart said it would sell hoverboards online in time for the holiday season, which typically begins on November 1st.
RadioShack won’t sell hoverboards this holiday season, while Best Buy, as of October 21st, wasn’t able to say whether it’ll sell the product. Target isn’t sure either if it’ll stock hoverboard in the following weeks, but it wants to sell them.
Toys’R’Us might be the only major retail chain to carry hoverboards, but the units it will sell will be based on Cuban’s purchased tech.
Meanwhile, you can find hoverboards online from Amazon and other retailers, and at other local smaller shops.
