While many companies are rushing into the wearable hardware space, one company is reportedly exiting this space. CNET has learned that Nike this week fired a significant portion of the staff working at its Digital Sport division after deciding to stop offering wearable devices such as the Nike FuelBand and the Nike+ sportwatch. The Nike Digital Sport hardware team employed about 70 people and 55 were let go.
Nike is not exiting the market completely though. It will instead focus strictly on fitness and athletic software and its Nike+ app ecosystem. The move comes as Nike recognizes that the market for wrist-worn fitness trackers is not only getting more crowded but smartphones are quickly encroaching on this space as well as they pack an increasingly varied array of sensors. For example, the Samsung Galaxy S5 just launched with a heart rate monitor and the HTC One (M8) can be used as a fitness tracker with the pre-loaded Fitbit app (and it can pair with Fitbit’s hardware as well).
The writing may have been on the wall last week when Nike launched its Fuel Lab. Essentially an incubator, it will allow third-party companies to work on new hardware products that plug into the Nike+ ecosystem and use its own proprietary point-based workout metric, NikeFuel.
With Apple expected to launch its iWatch later this year, Nike could well be announced as a partner providing health and fitness apps for the new device. The two companies have a partnership that goes back to 2006 when they first launched their Nike+iPod shoe-sensor package.
Source : CNET