Nike reportedly getting out of the activity-tracking hardware business
A couple of years ago I bought a Nike+ FuelBand and thought it was an impressive piece of hardware. I looked forward to updates, but according to CNET Nike fired most of the FuelBand team and is getting out of the activity-tracker hardware business.
With all of the wearable announcements at CES 2014 and analysts' predictions for continued growth in this market, I was a bit surprised to hear the news. Nike's FuelBands are some of the best pieces of wearable hardware I have ever tested and they seemed to be successful with these products.
The CNET article reports that the next iteration, due this fall, was cancelled. The current device, the second generation FuelBand SE, will continue to be sold. I gave up on the FuelBand after Nike broke its promise to release an Android application. Nike has applications on smartphones and as we see more and more smartphones support activity tracking from the phone itself, Nike can focus on the software experience with its Nike+ ecosystem.
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