Fitbit CEO, James Park, addressed Apple’s approach with the Apple Watch as the wrong one for the wearable tech. Even though Fitbit’s devices does not compete directly with the California-based company, Apple’s take on wearable tech is far from right according to the Park.
Park said that Fitbit’s strategy was to begin with simple devices, to make wearables more approachable, and carefully adding some new features over time. In the other hand, Apple started out doing a bit of everything in just one device, such as showing notifications, tracking fitness statistics and making phone calls, Park said to the New York Times.
“We look at it from a consumer point of view,” Park said. “The Apple Watch is a computing platform, but that is really the wrong way to approach this category from the very beginning,” he added.
Different approaches on wearable tech
However, a different approach is not necessary the wrong one, as Apple even though first reported its first sales decline ever in iPhones, analyst estimate that the sales for the Apple Watch are near 12 million devices since the product’s debut in 2015, making it a pretty profitable wearable.
But although people often compare both companies in the wearable category, Park said that this does not bother him due to the fact that Fitbit, with its fitness tracking, purposely serves the $60 to $250 accessories that focus on health monitoring market and Apple’s market actually starts at $299.
Fitbit growth in comparison with the tech company giant from Silicon Valley
The San-Francisco-based company is not doing so bad for itself, as it has been growing significantly since its humble beginning. Fitbit has grown in both staff members and sales over the past few years. Last year for example, the company reached 21.3 million devices sold, almost double the previous 10.9 million in 2014. Since it went public, its revenue rate grew about 90 percent as well, even though its stock price fell 10 percent later.
Park commented that with the constants innovations in Fitbit’s devices, aimed to stay competitive, the watches could eventually support mobile payments. In addition, it could also control smart home products like Internet-connected light bulbs, so they may will end up looking a lot like Apple Watch.
Source: The New York Times