Fitbit either doesn’t understand Apple Watch or hopes consumers won’t; neither is good for the company

“The stock market hated Fitbit’s announcement of its new Blaze smartwatch at the Consumer Electronics Show yesterday, driving shares down nearly 20% to all-time lows,” Mark Rogowsky writes for Forbes. “And it’s not especially hard to see why. The Blaze, which you can buy starting in March for $199, is an ungainly competitor to the Apple Watch.”

“In announcing its own smartwatch, Fitbit directly acknowledged that Apple is competition but it appears to have shown up to a Swiss Army knife fight with a spork,” Rogowsky writes. “Fitbit CEO James Park seems to think his simpler device — which is limited to fitness tracking, heart-rate monitoring, and a few other functions — is just what the market ordered. Park told the Financial Times: ‘People have struggled with what the killer app is for smartwatches. For us it’s health and fitness. It’s really cumbersome on the Apple Watch sometimes to see what is my daily activity because they are trying to do so many things.'”

“It’s actually quite easy to check your activity on the Apple Watch,” Rogowsky writes. “The killer app for smartwatches is notifications, not fitness tracking… The Watch isn’t trying to do too many things. On the contrary, today it only does a few things well enough. That’s led to much consternation among technology writers that the Watch is somehow failing, despite more than 10 million sold already (and quite likely many more).”

Read more in the full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: Fitbit’s reaction to the Apple Watch is eerily similar to the reaction of BlackBerry, Microsoft, Nokia, Palm et al. to the iPhone.

A bit of advice for Fitbit employees: Dust off that resume.

SEE ALSO:
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