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My uninformed opinion is that Apple Watch will suck the middle out of the fitness tracking market, leaving room only for specialized players (Fitbit, Garmin) an

My uninformed opinion is that Apple Watch will suck the middle out of the fitness tracking market, leaving room only for specialized players (Fitbit, Garmin) and the very low end (Xiomi). Of course, Apple may not end up dominating watches. But their entry “mainstreamizes” the idea of a general-purpose device also being your fitness tracker, and once that idea takes hold, people will stop buying fitness trackers unless they have a very specific prosumer need. Fitness trackers are going the way of music players, cameras, and mapping devices.

inrisk 11y ago
I would definitely agree with you in terms of the Apple Watch sucking out the competition in the fitness tracking market, but would you not say that Jawbone was in the same league as Fitbit?
- braythwayt 11y ago
  The marketplace seems to think that Fitbit are a fitness tracking company, while Jawbone is an electronics company that happens to make fitness trackers alongside things like bluetooth speakers.
- TeMPOraL 11y ago
  I personally always considered both as "BLE got popular but no one has figured out yet how to make a decent smartwatch" kind of devices.
  - tl 11y ago
    As someone who has owned a Charge HR and an Apple Watch, I'd say the Charge / Charge HR / Surge qualify as decent smartwatches in a way that doesn't apply to Fitbit's lower-end or previous devices.
cmarschner 11y ago
Apple sells at a totally different pricepoint which is way off mainstream. So at least atm. they are catering a different market. Also, smart watches on the market may just be too ugly (including Apple's). I think there's still a lot of opportunity to partner with a major watchmaker like Swatch which owns half of the world's watch brands but doesn't have a clue about the tech.
- Zombieball 11y ago
  I think removing the term "watch" and braythwayt's sentiment holds. Doesn't the iPhone offer much of the pedometer features activity trackers offer? I am also uninformed and haven't read any sort of comparison. But I wonder if Apple users realize the features available in the health app?
  - braythwayt 11y ago
    The phone does not currently have the heart rate function, so it’s hard to turn it into a complete health product. You need a chest strap, or a hat with heart rate function, and now you’re back to a wearable accessory for the phone. I’d guess the other way: What if Apple ends up putting a GPS and a phone in the watch? Then you buy an iPod Touch-like device as an accessory screen for the watch, instead of a watch as an accessory for the phone.
    - Swizec 11y ago
      > What if Apple ends up putting a GPS and a phone in the watch? Then I still won't be able to text, which is 90% of what most people do on a modern smartphone. That and watch videos. I wonder how many people would even notice if Apple removed the Phone app from the iPhone ... Oh and I assume taking selfies with your wrist would be hard too. I tried to position my wrist like that right now and my elbow wasn't happy.
      - braythwayt 11y ago
        It’s technically possible to text on the Watch, but mostly you text back variations of “yes,” “no,” or “ttyl.” Which is terrible. Unless you don’t want to text with someone, in which case you have an out: “I’d have replied to your question detail, but my hands were full and I could only reply on the watch."
        Swizec 11y ago
        If you don't want to text with someone you can always wait 3 weeks then text "Sorry, I fell asleep".
revelation 11y ago
I think your market segmentation is somewhat off. The fitness tracking part of Fitbit has just been utterly commoditized; every smartwatch now does all the steps and sleep tracking, too, so they've subsumed that functionality while Fitbits smartwatch offerings are inferior. Meanwhile, Garmin produces actual fitness trackers for the sports market, with full on GPS integration and a wide range of sensor support for stuff like power meters. Fitbits only offering here was only released in 2015, the Fitbit surge, their only GPS capable watch. But frankly, the price point is way out there, it has no support for swimming (so really the only market segment left for them here are runners) and their software story around sports enthusiasts is just laughable. They have no fighting chance against someone like Garmin, who dominates this market.

inrisk 11y ago

I would definitely agree with you in terms of the Apple Watch sucking out the competition in the fitness tracking market, but would you not say that Jawbone was in the same league as Fitbit?

braythwayt 11y ago
The marketplace seems to think that Fitbit are a fitness tracking company, while Jawbone is an electronics company that happens to make fitness trackers alongside things like bluetooth speakers.
TeMPOraL 11y ago
I personally always considered both as "BLE got popular but no one has figured out yet how to make a decent smartwatch" kind of devices.
- tl 11y ago
  As someone who has owned a Charge HR and an Apple Watch, I'd say the Charge / Charge HR / Surge qualify as decent smartwatches in a way that doesn't apply to Fitbit's lower-end or previous devices.

cmarschner 11y ago

Apple sells at a totally different pricepoint which is way off mainstream. So at least atm. they are catering a different market. Also, smart watches on the market may just be too ugly (including Apple's). I think there's still a lot of opportunity to partner with a major watchmaker like Swatch which owns half of the world's watch brands but doesn't have a clue about the tech.

Zombieball 11y ago
I think removing the term "watch" and braythwayt's sentiment holds. Doesn't the iPhone offer much of the pedometer features activity trackers offer? I am also uninformed and haven't read any sort of comparison. But I wonder if Apple users realize the features available in the health app?
- braythwayt 11y ago
  The phone does not currently have the heart rate function, so it’s hard to turn it into a complete health product. You need a chest strap, or a hat with heart rate function, and now you’re back to a wearable accessory for the phone. I’d guess the other way: What if Apple ends up putting a GPS and a phone in the watch? Then you buy an iPod Touch-like device as an accessory screen for the watch, instead of a watch as an accessory for the phone.
  - Swizec 11y ago
    > What if Apple ends up putting a GPS and a phone in the watch? Then I still won't be able to text, which is 90% of what most people do on a modern smartphone. That and watch videos. I wonder how many people would even notice if Apple removed the Phone app from the iPhone ... Oh and I assume taking selfies with your wrist would be hard too. I tried to position my wrist like that right now and my elbow wasn't happy.
    - braythwayt 11y ago
      It’s technically possible to text on the Watch, but mostly you text back variations of “yes,” “no,” or “ttyl.” Which is terrible. Unless you don’t want to text with someone, in which case you have an out: “I’d have replied to your question detail, but my hands were full and I could only reply on the watch."
      - Swizec 11y ago
        If you don't want to text with someone you can always wait 3 weeks then text "Sorry, I fell asleep".

revelation 11y ago

I think your market segmentation is somewhat off. The fitness tracking part of Fitbit has just been utterly commoditized; every smartwatch now does all the steps and sleep tracking, too, so they've subsumed that functionality while Fitbits smartwatch offerings are inferior. Meanwhile, Garmin produces actual fitness trackers for the sports market, with full on GPS integration and a wide range of sensor support for stuff like power meters. Fitbits only offering here was only released in 2015, the Fitbit surge, their only GPS capable watch. But frankly, the price point is way out there, it has no support for swimming (so really the only market segment left for them here are runners) and their software story around sports enthusiasts is just laughable. They have no fighting chance against someone like Garmin, who dominates this market.