The Apple Watch is coming, and this means it’s time for Apple to put all the crappier fitness bands it’s been selling all these years into the airlock and flush them into deep space.
No surprise, then, that Apple’s retail stores are no longer selling the Jawbone UP and the Nike+ Fuelband.
Recode reports today that it checked a number of popular Apple Stores in San Francisco, Palo Alto, Los Angeles and New York. In each and every one, Recode found that with the Apple Watch on its way, Apple had stopped selling competitors’ wearables.
Back in November, Apple stopped selling the Fitbit line of activity trackers. Even so, right now, the only fitness band still on sale is the Mio Alpha Heart Rate Monitor Watch … and even it’s time is near. Recode spoke to Mio founder Liz Dickson, who said Apple told her that Angela Ahrendts was kicking them out of the Apple Store.
“They said they brought in a new executive in the marketing area who wanted to re-work branding for the stores, and to make the Apple brand more front and center and clean up and minimize the number of accessories,” Dickinson said.
All I’m going to say is: I told you so. Nike, at least, is not going to be surprised by this move: They killed off the Fuelband early last year in anticipation of the Apple Watch eating their lunch.
Truthfully, though, will any fitness band really want to be compared side-by-side with an Apple Watch when it arrives in late Apple? I think not.
Source: Recode
