“Nike denies it, but sources close to Apple know something that most of the industry has not been qued in on just yet,” Roy Latke reports for GeekTime. “While leaks regarding the new iPad and iPhone seem to hit the news stands every other day, another product which is currently in its final stages of development in Cupertino is the actual cause for a move by Nike a few days back that led to the dismissal of nearly a third of its digital division’s workforce responsible for the Nike FuelBand.”
“In recent weeks I spoke several times with two sources in Cupertino pertaining to future products to be released by Apple later this year for the holiday season in the U.S. and Europe. Judging on the basis of the information revealed in these conversations, Apple has been working for a long time on a project that appears to be in its final stages of touch-ups,” Latke reports. “What became clear is that the much anticipated Apple smart watch is not so much a watch as it is a smartband.”
“Apple is looking to launch a smart band towards the end of this year whose collection of sensors will be able to be used not only to monitor the activity of the wearer, but also to operate other devices as a gestural controller,” Latke reports. “Nike knows something you don’t… Nike will play a significant part in shaping the next Apple’s next product. And it makes sense when you consider that Nike must be thinking about what will happen in a few months if their customers wake up one morning to find themselves wearing a product that pales in comparison to something new that’s sweeping the market.”
Read more in the full article here.
Related articles:
Nike failed. Now only Apple can save wearables – April 22, 2014
Buh-bye FuelBand: With friends like Apple, Nike doesn’t need its own hardware – April 21, 2014
Nike fires majority of FuelBand team, to stop making wearable hardware – April 19, 2014
-Nike might have laid off some FuelBand engineers.
-Ergo Nike is “getting out of hardware”.
-Apple will release something-something fitness/watch something.
-Tim Cook had a FuelBand ON HIS WRIST.
-Tim Cook is ON NIKE’S BOARD!
-Ergo Nike and Apple are releasing a “smartband”.
At this point, people are just making shit up, based on specious, unsourced evidence and brain-dead conjecture.
Of course it’s made up. All future forecasting is made up. But it’s also very likely. Why would Nike not respond publicly to closing down their hardware division? Because Apple won’t let them say anything. Why would Apple sit on Nike’s board if Apple had just put Nike out of business? It all makes sense that Nike stands to gain something big in exchange, and they can’t talk about it.
As I like to say, much of what we suffer through reading on this site is arrived at by pundits by anatomic extraction. I think you are on to something here, my friend.
As soon as I read about Nike’s plans, I sensed the same thing. The two companies have worked closely in the past. I doubt that the FuelBand was a critical driver of revenues to Nike, as it’s not a core of what the company does best. But the FuelBand has likely taught Nike many valuable things, and by partnering with Apple, it could be a win-win for both companies.
Smart and successful companies frequently cut bait and move on when a product or initiative does not hit profit targets or match with the strategic direction of the company. That’s hardly an admission of defeat – quite the contrary. Focusing on what generates the most profit and on what a business does best is critical to success.
As for the laid-off Nike employees, don’t be surprised if they are already being hired by Apple.
It will be very interesting to see where this goes. We barely know the story or any facts. But it’s fun to imagine what likely may be. Stay tuned.
Does the band even need a screen?
I mean if you already carry an iPhone around, wouldn’t it be better to save battery life with it just sending the data to your iPhone, iPad or Mac?
Why can’t it be in the phone then
because the band is attached to your body reading your pulse, and whatever other biometric sensors are in it.
qued?