Apple keeps whittling down the act of fittingness tracker in its retail stores as it makes way for theApple Watch .
The latest victims are Jawbone ’s Up24 fitness ring and Nike ’s Fuelband , which have disappeared from Apple Store ledge in several major citiesaccording to Re / code . Apple has also move out a wrist - worn fondness rate monitor from Mio , but continues to sell Jawbone ’s clip - on Up Move fitness tracker .
Last October , Apple also stoppedcarrying fitness trackersfrom Fitbit . That tidings came a hebdomad after Fitbit said itwouldn’t work with Apple ’s Health app , prefer or else to ramp up out its own platform of machine-accessible physical fitness services .
Besides clear out potential Apple Watch option , Apple could conceivably have other understanding to thin the herd . Both the Up24 and Nike Fuelband are more than a year honest-to-god , and Jawbone ’s Up3 tracker has beendelayed indefinitely . And while Nike still sells its Fuelband in other memory board , the company is nolonger developing new wearable hardwareas it shift its attention to software and overhaul . Perhaps Apple is just looking to bring up its physical fitness tracker section with newer , more relevant pick .
In any case , Apple is n’t directly bring up the Watch as a need . “ They read they brought in a unexampled executive in the marketing area who want to rework branding for the stores , and to make the Apple trade name more front and center and clean house up and minimize the number of appurtenance , ” Liz Dickinson , Mio ’s founder and CEO , tell Re / code .
Why this matters : Obviously Apple wants to ensure its first smartwatch derive an other beachhead . Still , it ’d be gooselike for Apple to get rid of physical fitness tracker entirely , specially those that can hook into the company’sHealthKit frameworkwith data point that Apple Watch does n’t collect , such as nap tracking or built - in GPS . Hopefully the remotion of Jawbone and Nike Fuelband are just a foretoken of Apple taking breed and figuring out the good health trailing twist to offer , rather than clearing out anything that might be considered contender .
