The Apple Watch may have out-earned Rolex to the tune of $1.5 billion last year, but according to Fitbit CEO’s James Park, Apple’s pursuing the wrong direction with its wearable devices.
“We look at it from a consumer point of view,” Park said, noting that the Apple Watch, “is a computing platform [instead, and] that’s really the wrong way to approach this category from the very beginning.”
Admittedly the comments aren’t a whole lot more transparent than other similar attacks on Apple (is Apple not consumer-focused?), but the point seems to be that Fitbit tries to make its wearables simple, one-purpose devices. The Apple Watch, meanwhile, tries to be all things to all people — providing notifications, fitness stats, and phone calls — but without excelling in any of them.
In another swipe at the Apple Watch, Park says that, “I think one of the general knocks against smartwatches is that people still don’t know what they’re good for, so they’ve crammed everything in.”
You can’t totally discount Fitbit, of course. Since going public last year, the company has increased revenue more than 90 percent with the rise in popularity of fitness devices. In 2015, Fitbit sold 21.3 million devices — which translates to almost double the 10.9 million it sold the year before.
However, it’s also fair to say that — as popular as Fitbit devices may be — they’re still a tiny fraction of the business that the Apple Watch is. If Apple was to create a wearable selling comparable numbers at a comparable price point to Fitbit, it would be considered a categorical failure. Right now, Fitbit has created a good, niche business — but likening it directly to the Apple Watch is not a good or straightforward comparison.
What do you think? Do James Park’s comments contain any words of wisdom that Apple could learn from — or is this (no pun intended) comparing apples with oranges? Leave your comments below.
Source: NY Times
Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.
7 responses to “Fitbit CEO: Apple Watch is ‘the wrong way to approach’ wearables”
I have been an Apple fanboy since the mid-1980’s and for fitness tracking I wear a Fitbit, and one of their most basic designs at that. I concur with what their CEO states in this article. Even the fanatics on the Cult of Mac podcast struggle to come up with convincing reasons to purchase the Apple Watch.
This would be all very well were it not for the fact that the bigger Fitbits (Surge, Blaze) are as ugly as sin. (the basic trackers are quite fun). Hermes and its ilk will not be teaming up with Fitbit anytime soon. .
I still think the Apple Watch’s best days are ahead of it – as a heath device that’s fashionable enough you won’t be embarrassed to wear it.
I love my Apple Watch and always laugh at the comments of the Apple haters. As is almost always the case, my friends that started out with a Fitbit device end up leaving them in a drawer sooner than later. What a testament to Fitbit. Fitbit CEO, James Park, would kill to have the financials behind the Apple Watch. Sour grapes, Mr. Park. But, if a Fitbit works well for some customers, more power to them.
Apple watch would be a lot more useful with built in GPS. Now that would be a killer fitness function a cut above the fitbit. But as it stands now, I have to agree with the fitbit CEO.
I would guess that people purchase an apple watch for the same reason that people purchase a rolex watch instead of some cheap watch for 1$ from eBay.
Apple is a great brand with beautiful products, not a brand that does that open products with to many functions.
Its a nice looking watch for a decent price for a wellbranded watch.
I bougt one because i have alot of Apple products wich im satisfied with in general.
Thats why i say inside the Apple like a feasting worm loving Every moment of it :)
I have no interest in ‘fitness tracking’ – so show me a fit bit that gives me Siri control of my Philips Hue lights from my wrist when I’m wandering around my place. Show me the fit bit that shows me which building/room the meeting I’m heading towards is in at a glance. Show me the fit bit that can let me reply to iMessages and Skype messages and messenger messages including using voice dictation. Show me the fit bit which lets me check the train timetable at a glance to see the latest info without having to take out my phone and possibly drop it while carrying baggage. Show me the fit bit that lets me set a reminder timer when I’m in the middle of cooking without using my hands. Show me the fit bit that lets me check the latest news feed. Show me the fit bit that would give a gentle silent tap on the wrist to prompt me I need to draw the current meeting to an end to get to the next one. Show me the fit bit that would let me answer the phone if I don’t have my phone with me (in another room) but be able to hand the call back to the phone if it turns into a long call. Show me the fit bit that would let me control my Apple TV from anywhere around my place (and if you have the right TV, adjust volume etc).
Basically, the Fitbit guy has missed the point of the Apple Watch in the same way that Bulmer famously misunderstood the revolution of the iPhone compared to Windows phones of the time. The Windows phones did a few things really well (and some general things ok ish), but the iPhone was a general purpose computing platform with a blank slab of an interface that can change and adopt to a vast range of uses. The Apple Watch is in the same vein. It’s a blank canvas on which app developers can bring a huge variety of uses.
Sure – the current version is far from perfect (it’s certainly a version 1 product) so was the first iPhone, but it is far from being the wrong direction. It’s a revolution that just hasn’t hit its stride yet.
…or, my expectations of tech are exceptional and it’ll never have a market. I’ve always worn a watch and I have a full Apple ecosystem of tech for it to work with.