My uninformed opinion is that Apple Watch will suck the middle out of the fitness tracking market, leaving room only for specialized players (Fitbit, Garmin) and the very low end (Xiomi).<p>Of course, Apple may not end up dominating watches. But their entry “mainstreamizes” the idea of a general-purpose device also being your fitness tracker, and once that idea takes hold, people will stop buying fitness trackers unless they have a very specific prosumer need.<p>Fitness trackers are going the way of music players, cameras, and mapping devices.
I hate to be that guy, but they've taken $820m in funding to make Bluetooth speakers (now a commoditised market) and fitness trackers. I know hardware is expensive, and they've been pioneers, too, but that is SO MUCH money to only have some a handful of gizmos to show for it.
From <i>What Went Wrong at Jawbone</i> (<a href="https://www.theinformation.com/what-went-wrong-at-jawbone" rel="nofollow">https://www.theinformation.com/what-went-wrong-at-jawbone</a> ; subscription only):<p>* Employee doubts (lack of direction, CEO frequently absent during fundraising, ex-CFO alleged that CEO misappropriated funds for personal use)<p>* Manufacturing troubles (low manufacturing yield due to unique design, high product return rates)<p>* PE firm Rizvi Traverse backed out of expected $175M funding round after first $25M payment
I've heard from a friend at fitbit that jawbone, Nike, and others all licensed their tech from some professor's company, whereas fitbit developed their own in house... And evidently the licensor didn't keep pace with tech, but also didn't allow innovation on top of the stack.<p>This is second hand hearsay, take it for what it's worth.
I have a Garmin vivoactive smartwatch. It has a built-in gps, water proof and it can track my biking, swimming, running and others. The battery comes for a week in one charge.<p>Compared to other players, Fitbit and garmin can hold their territories against Apple Watch. Garmin is also a debt free company with lot of cash in hand. Their dividend yield is 5.2%.
Its a shame. Wish there were alternatives that worked for me.<p>Nothing else in the market has a comparable "Smart Alarm" like the Jawbone UP devices.