“James Park is on a mission to make you fitter, faster, stronger and more productive. His company Fitbit has put its activity trackers on millions of wrists in the nine years since it was founded,” James Titcomb reports for The Telegraph. “But Park, who co-founded Fitbit and led it to one of 2015’s biggest technology IPOs, believes that wearable technology is only at the cusp of its potential.”
“On its first day as a listed company, shares surged 20pc, valuing the company at $4.1bn and valuing Park’s stake at $600m. The months since then, however, have not been so kind. Shares have lost over half of their value since Fitbit’s IPO, amid a widespread tech malaise,” Titcomb reports. “One event that weathered the company’s share price was January’s unveiling of the Fitbit Blaze, a fitness-focused smartwatch, which added more advanced features such as the ability to read text messages and control a smartphone’s music.”
“Park is adamant that the Blaze – two thirds the price of Apple’s smartwatch and with a longer battery life – can compete, and says the Apple Watch, which boasts thousands of different applications, can be overcomplicated,” Titcomb reports. “‘I think it’s a great product and Apple’s a great company, but it’s a product that probably does too much,’ Park says.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Health is the key. And Apple has all of the pieces, including the monetary might and the corporate will, to own health. See HealthKit, ResearchKit, CareKit. See Apple’s vast ecosystem. FitBit has none of the pieces. FitBit’s R&D expenditures ($27.9m in 2013, $54.2m in 2014, and $150m last year) are laughable. FitBit is the Palm of wearables.
SEE ALSO:
Apple Watch predicted to capture 50% market share in 2016 – March 17, 2016
Thanks to Apple Watch, smartwatches are now more popular than Swiss watches – February 19, 2016
Canalys: Apple shipped over 12 million Apple Watches in 2015, two-thirds of all smartwatches shipped in 2015 – February 5, 2016
Apple Watch kickstarted interest in wearable devices; sales of fitness trackers and VR headsets are set for rapid growth – February 2, 2016
Apple Watch beats Rolex in luxury brands ranking – January 29, 2016
Apple Watch revenues expected to be $8.4 billion for first year – January 26, 2016
Juniper: Apple Watch has already cornered the smartwatch market – January 12, 2016
Apple COO: ‘Apple Watch marks the end of single-function wrist devices’ – January 7, 2016
Fitbit either doesn’t understand Apple Watch or hopes consumers won’t; neither is good for the company – January 6, 2016
Fitbit exec calls Apple Watch a ‘toy,’ Fitbit shares crater more than 13% after unveiling Apple Watch Sport knockoff – January 5, 2016
It’s official: The Apple Watch is destroying the so-called competition – November 20, 2015
As Apple Watch sales ramp, Swiss watch makers suffer biggest slump in six years – November 19, 2015
Apple Watch models take top four spots on 10 most-wanted smartwatches list – November 18, 2015
Apple Watch is 2016’s hottest holiday gift – November 18, 2015
Apple has already sold more than $1.7 billion worth of Apple Watches – October 29, 2015
Strategy Analytics: Apple Watch sells 4.5 million units in Q315, takes 74% global smartwatch market share – October 28, 2015
Apple Watch users are abandoning traditional watches – September 15, 2015
Over 1 million Apple Watches already sold in China – September 3, 2015
Apple Watch already dominates smart-wearables market, says IDC – August 28, 2015
IDC estimates Apple sold 3.6 million Apple Watch units in Q2 – August 27, 2015
Best Buy CEO: Apple Watch demand is ‘so strong’ that we’re expanding sales to all 1,050 stores – August 25, 2015
Swiss watch exports decline most since 2009 – August 20, 2015
Apple Watch takes 88% of total smartwatch revenue – August 14, 2015
Apple Watch kills a entire industry in three months – August 12, 2015
U.S. wristwatch sales post biggest drop in seven years after Apple Watch debut – August 7, 2015
Apple Watch dominates smartwatches with 75% market share – July 28, 2015
Juniper Research: Apple is world’s #1 smartwatch maker – July 23, 2015
Canalys: Apple ships 4.2 million Apple Watches in Q2 to become world’s top wearables vendor – July 21, 2015
Apple Watch satisfaction is unprecedented at 97%; beats original iPhone and iPad – July 20, 2015
Non-techies love their Apple Watches even more than tech users – July 20, 2015
Apple Watch is Apple’s most successful product debut ever – June 1, 2015
This guy needs to go back to the 90s.
Tim Cooke: “I think it’s a great product and Fitbit’s a great company, but it’s a product that probably doesn’t do enough..”
I wouldn’t say “Fitbit is the Palm of wearables”. They produce a fair amount of lower cost products that actually help a lot of people. They have their niche. You can’t fault them for trying to hit the upper tier, but their bread and butter is lower.
As for their CEO, the above makes it sound that he was bashing the Apple Watch, however he stated, “I think it’s a great product and Apple’s a great company, but it’s a product that probably does too much”. That is not negative.
Either way, I know a lot of people that no longer have their Apple Watch because of that same thought. They think it is a great product, but just does too much and is confusing. I’m using a Fitbit Charge HR with no issues, but hoping to get a AW2 once they iron out some the kinds of gen 1.
I know a lot of people who don’t own a fitbit… so what’s your point?
I agree – I sold my Apple Watch after a couple months because I really wanted the luxury of looking at my wrist to actually see the time – kind of crazy. Mine turned on about half the time, and I was constantly having to hit my watch to turn it back on and read it. I also wanted sleep tracking, and having to take my watch off for at least 8 hours/day means it CANNOT the best tracker, because it only tracks 2/3 of your day — having the watch park your car and check your stocks and find a sushi restaurant doesn’t change that.
I do have all things Apple and have for 30 years — but I hope they find a way to make the battery workable, or I might always need an additional tracker. (Also I don’t get the Fitbit bashing — they’re a great company that made cool fitness trackers long before Apple — and their software is easy and intuitive to use. You can love Apple without bashing Fitbit — what’s the point?)
Laugh all you want. I saw Fitbits flying out of stores over christmas. Huge Numbers. And not Apple Watches.
The Fitbit can improve only so much. The Apple watch is just getting started. What’s happening today is not nearly as important as the next several years.
A promise made is a debt unpaid.
Were you that tramp sitting outside cap in hand?
Fitbits are cheap devices that do a decent one dimensional job well, they are not a smart watch and the Blaze pretty much demonstrates the difference and represents a failed lowest common denominator strategy on their part to think they can be something they are not that will be their eventual downfall as they are squeezed from all sides.
From Apple’s point of view I thought a fitness band would have been a good additional option for them but I suspect that it simply didn’t offer enough individuality or uniqueness with the inbuilt limitations to make it a worthwhile money maker long term, a sort of iPod with just a fraction of that product’s longevity.
you guys are comparing oranges to…, well, apples and declaring the oranges have a more citrus flavor. Fitbit is to Apple Watch as A Cesna twin engine is to Learjet. So yah, i guess the Learjet just does too much and confuses the Cesna pilot. Let’s compare REAL smart watches to REAL smart watches, and trinkets to trinkets.
Saying that you’re rival’s product “does too much”, is a more positive spin than saying “ours doesn’t do as much as theirs does”. Much depends on how the customers feel about those additional features.
The bottom line is that neither is always right or always wrong. Some customers will want the simpler option, others will opt for the more versatile option and some will opt for both.
I doubt that many people get put off buying a product because the CEO of a rival company doesn’t think much of that product. I certainly don’t recall sales of the original iPhone being too adversely affected by the sweaty guy saying “There’s no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share. No chance. It’s a $500 subsidized item.”
I agree. Blackberry and Microsoft CEO’s trashed the iPhone when it came out, now their jobless. Smartphones have not completely killed feature phones yet, but they have taken away the markets that matter. Smart watches (ones with apps) won’t kill regular watches overnight, but they will take the top markets away. In the past few Apple presentations the press have ignored the start of the shows when Apple talks about their health care products and third party apps. IBM has targeted health care with their pro service and software. This includes the Watch. FitBit can’t compete there. When people see their doctors and hospitals using Apple Watchs they will start buying them. Hospitals will be buying them in bulk and researchers who study what sells at retailers won’t have a clue about the real sales and will be baffled by Apple’s profits and the market. I think Apple was smart about not giving out sales numbers.
I have to agree, the Fitbit has a much better ‘$ per function’ value than the Apple watch – which is why we as a family own fitbits and not apple watch – even though we have iPhones.
The holy grail for now must be Blood Pressure – anyone who has this as a feature – or linkable feature to a wrist borne device will definitely clean up in this space.
That’s your holy grail… mine and others is Blood Sugar monitoring.
Ah, so that is why the Swiss watch industry tanked last year, because people were buying Fitbit stuff?.
I don’t think so!
Correlation does not imply causation. Also, while you like to point out Swiss watch makers sales data you have no intelligent and factual sales data for Apple Watch. You are completely ignorant because Apple has eschewed transparency for unsubstantiated rumors and mindless estimates.
Uh-Huh
I bet that all of you siding with the fitbit malarkey have never, ever even used an AW, so it tickling your ego to have someone suggest you made the smarter choice… even if that someone just happens to be the coo of the competition. Notice this snake oil salesman never once mentions any of the other successful smart watch manufacturers…, just apple, the competitor he most envies…, get a clue, buy one if you have to, or just continue to allow this guy to continue to stroke your ego. Ha! Oh, and I guess that’s exactly why he’s trying his best to produce a ,SMARTWATCH.
The Apple watch is a direct competitor for the swiss $300 – $1000 market and will therefore disrupt initially – and possibly longer term.
The fitbit is not in the same space ( athough the latest model is a turn in that direction)
Fitbit is a simple, low cost. fitness tracker with a good app for iPhone. It has a really good battery life and does heart rate monitoring as well as the usual activity monitoring stuff. Its not really appropriate to compare it with something which has a strap that costs more than a fitbit
Max, thanks for meaningless drivel, incomprehensible nonsense, bewildering ignorance, unsubstantiated theories, and complete misinterpretation of factual evidence. I know it must have taken you hours to compile this chaotic mess of incredulity.
Since Apple refuses to declare sales data for Apple Watch any declarations of Apple Warch success are complete fiction. Whereas it seems that Fitbit sales are commonly known Apples lack of transparency raises concerns that Apple Watch is a dismal failure.
Since Apple refuses to declare sales data for Apple Watch any declarations of Apple Warch success are complete fiction including saying that Apple’s lack of transparency raises concerns that Apple Watch is a dismal failure.
It is always the companies that have been in a market for a while that will scream at a new Apple product that goes into there market as something bad or wrong with it. Or they will say Apple doesn’t know how to make this or that. Apple seems to come out on top every time. I use my Apple Watch everyday and no, it is not confusing and it is actually easy to use. I can see at a glance the time, date, weather, my calendar. Messages and mail pop up in the background and I only need to swipe down to see them and scroll through them if there are many.
Many companies don’t declare numbers of there sales like Samsung for example. They will only say what has shipped, not sold. Apple sold more watches in 1 month versus all of the others combined. Hardly a dismal failure and if that was the case Apple would not be updating the Watch OS or adding new accessories. The market would have seen if this was the case also and reported it. Apple’s watch sales have been great.
It’s not confusing at all, it just needs to be more accurate. I can do an “other” workout that involves sitting around my house for an hour and burn as many calories as an “outdoor walk” at a brisk pace for several hours, something doesn’t add up.
A smartwatch manufactuer probably begins by assuming that its customers are smart enough to not be confused by a smartwatch, but if not, there’s always a less intimidating, though dumber alternative.
Dammit! Computers do too much!
What we need is…
Lowest Common Denominator EVERYTHING!
Stupefaction For EVeRyOnE! Idiocracy is the only viable democracy. Right?!
Thing is, he’s both wrong and right. Apple Watch doesn’t do too much, but it does do many things in a way that’s too complex. Many of these are lazy third-party apps that just treat the watch as a tiny phone rather than making use of what it (and indeed any smartwatch) should be about – quick, simple bursts of info that are no more than two or three taps away.
Fitbits are absolutely fine for what they are. Where they’ll hit trouble is when they add more and more features and find that they’re having the same problem.
Perhaps Fitbit’s niche is to provide 80% of what users need for a competitive price.