Technology companies have attempted to break into the fitness wearable market only to lose out to the competition.
Just like other companies before it, German sports gear manufacturer Adidas finally announced its departure from the saturated and competitive market of activity tracker.
Some brands still endure the tough market with a new model being outed every few months or so. Samsung continues to promote its Galaxy Gear lineup while Apple has its Apple Watch series as well. Analysts project, however, that this segment of the mobile market remains to be tough on everybody.
Opportunity Presents Itself
Most mobile phone manufacturers reportedly jumped on the smartwatch bandwagon and made huge investments. When Android Wear was released, it was supposedly the next big thing that will replace regular watches for good.
However, the need to constantly recharge smartwatches and clunky interface often left consumers wondering if they are as useful as advertised.
Samsung, Huawei, LG, Apple and a few others continued to release new products now and then but failed to really establish a foothold. Even luxury watchmakers attempted to grab a share of the fitness wearable. Sadly, brands like Nike and Adidas failed to make an impression with their own hardware.
Future Plans Detailed
An announcement from Stacey Burr, vice president of Adidas' wearable sports electronics, confirms that consumers are not going to see a new running watch from Adidas for a while. Some of its notable fitness wearables that were released a couple of years back were the miCoach Fit Smart and the miCoach Smart Run.
Analysts suggest that most consumers shopping for a new smartwatch were not even aware that the German company even had one, Digital Trends reported.
The company's exit from hardware suggests that Adidas will continue to work on their software, which is expected to be available on most fitness wearables from other leading brands. Its latest collaboration is with Fitbit called the Ionic smartwatch, which is due to launch sometime next year.
Brand Recognition
Nike also made an attempt to cash in on the growing smartwatch market with its Fuelband fitness tracker. Unfortunately, just like Adidas, the hardware did not exactly fly off store shelves possibly due to its limited functions.
Now the American sportswear company has partnered with Apple to provide the software behind their Nike-labeled Apple Watch lineup.
It remains to be seen if Adidas will find success through its partnership with Fitbit's fitness wearables.
