Rumors of Nike exiting the wearable device market for good have been circling the Internet for quite some time. However, these rumors have intensified after Nike fired most of its FuelBand team due to the failures of the device in the marketplace.
As per the person who is familiar with Nike's decisions, the company plans to exit the wearable device business and stick solely to software, mainly improving the Nike+ app for the iPhone, thus having no idea if Nike plans to launch the app on other devices, or if the company is interested in creating more apps in the future.
"As a fast-paced, global business we continually align resources with business priorities," Nike spokesman Brian Strong said in an email. "As our Digital Sport priorities evolve, we expect to make changes within the team, and there will be a small number of layoffs. We do not comment on individual employment matters."
To prove how terrible the FuelBand performed, Cnet has reported that as many as 55 people were fired from the 70-man team behind the wearable device on Thursday. This alone could be signs that Nike has no intention to return to the wearable device market, but we might be getting ahead of ourselves.
Nike gave the impression that the company is not yet ready to leave the wearable device market just yet.
"The Nike+ FuelBand SE remains an important part of our business," Strong added. "We will continue to improve the Nike+ FuelBand App, launch new METALUXE colors, and we will sell and support the Nike+ FuelBand SE for the foreseeable future."
The big question though, why is Nike firing over 80 percent of the FuelBand's workforce? Well, the device did not perform up to expectations in the marketplace and based on an anonymous post via the app Secret, a social network for gossip centered on the tech industry, problems could lie with the execs.
"The douchebag execs at Nike are going to lay off a bunch of the eng team who developed The FuelBand, and other Nike+ stuff. Mostly because the execs committed gross negligence, wasted tons of money, and didn't know what they were doing."
It is clear that wearable devices are bound to take off with the amount of top technology companies entering the space. It would be wise for Nike to return to the drawing board, and then bounce back again before the market is too crowded.
