Fitbit, the top pure-play maker of fitness trackers, said today it sold $409 million in trackers in the quarter ending September, up 168 percent over the year previous, earning a profit of 24 cents per share. Pre-report consensus had expected earnings of 10 cents per share. For the current quarter, the company said it expected to earn 20 to 25 cents per share on sales of $620 … [Read more...]
Why Wearables Makers Should Get Into The Content Business Today
You may not see the intersection of ESPN and fitness trackers, but it's there -- and if you make trackers, there's an opportunity to be had RIGHT NOW. There's a guy named Joe Pulizzi who runs something called the Content Marketing Institute. If you want to tell your brand story with content -- and not only should you, you have to -- Joe's pretty much the world's living … [Read more...]
Fitbit’s B2B Business is now HIPAA Compliant
The big players in fitness trackers have long since figured out that the big money will be in business-to-business sales; one big corporate contract can make an entire quarter. Fitbit has announced that Fitbit Wellness, its corporate offering, is now HIPAA-compliant, meaning the information it gathers and shares meets the U.S.-mandated privacy standard. It's an important … [Read more...]
Apple Watch a Close Number 2 Behind Fitbit, Says IDC
We've been saying for months that we won't judge the Apple Watch a success or failure until we see hard numbers from a company like IDC. Now, the market intelligence company says Apple shipped 3.4 million units in 2Q15 -- the first quarter of its availability -- compared to Fitbit's 4.4 million. The wearables industry as a whole shipped 18.1 million units, up 223 percent from … [Read more...]
Blame Apple? U.S. Watch Sales Drop 11 Pct, Most in 7 Years
The market research company NPD says watch sales in the United States in June dropped 11 percent from the year before, to $375 million. Fred Levin, head of NPD's luxury practice, told Bloomberg that watches that cost between $50 and $1000 suffered across-the-board declines, with a 24 percent decline in the $100 to $199 range. Although Levin said that Apple "is going to gain … [Read more...]
Fitbit Posts Strong Q2 Results, So the Stock Drops
Business journalists learn early: a company, its products, and its stock are three distinct things. It's also a truism that stocks rise on speculation and drop on news -- even good news. So it's not entirely surprising that Fitbit had a great quarter but its stock immediately lost 10 percent of its value. Analysts had expected profit of 8 cents per share on $319 million in … [Read more...]
The Third Shoe Drops: Jawbone Sues Fitbit in the ITC
Jawbone said it would, and how it did: sued Fitbit in the International Trade Court in an attempt to keep Fitbit's products from being imported. Since Fitbits (like most, if not all, electronics products) are made abroad, a victory would essentially keep Fitbit off the U.S. market. Jawbone has previously sued Fitbit, the market leader in smart bands, for poaching its … [Read more...]
Google X Shows Health Tracking Wristband
Google is apparently working on a health-related wristband, but don't expect to be able to buy it anytime soon -- or ever. Bloomberg is carrying a story about a wristband from Google X -- the research division of Google -- that will be able to measure pulse rate, heart rhythm, skin temperature, and local environment. It won't be sold to people, but rather distributed to … [Read more...]
Fitbit IPO Prices at $20, Opens at $30 (Last Update)
Here we go. Fitbit was the first IPO of the Wearables Era, and it went pretty smoothly. The stock, priced at $20, hit the NYSE at a touch above $30, had a big trade at nearly $32 (making some friend of an underwriter about a $10 million profit for just existing), and then settled within a couple of pennies of $30 for the rest of the day. By 10:30 am, pretty much all the … [Read more...]
Fitbit Ups the Ante, Raising Target IPO Price
Tomorrow, Fitbit becomes the first pure wearables company to go public, and today increased its target price (and amount of money it expects to raise) when its shares go on sale. Previously, the company said it expected that just shy of 30 million shares of stock would open at between $14 and $16, for a corporate valuation of about $3.1 billion. Today, a financial filing … [Read more...]