
Nike fires majority of FuelBand team, will stop making wearable hardware - bane
http://www.cnet.com/news/nike-fires-fuelband-engineers-will-stop-making-wearable-hardware/
======
changdizzle
Even more amazing is that it was first reported on Secret a week ago:
[https://www.secret.ly/p/uxaztevdcicghcabkkczuzkpkz](https://www.secret.ly/p/uxaztevdcicghcabkkczuzkpkz)

~~~
fudged71
So funny. I was at a conference just two weeks ago where RGA was talking about
their success with the Nike FuelBand. In reality, nobody used it and the whole
team got fired. Brilliant.

~~~
tomwilson
The Fuelband is always lauded by the whole advertising / digital creative
agency business as proof they can move beyond campaign work and actually make
product. Which they all desperately want to do, but their business model is
poorly set up for.

------
napoleoncomplex
It's surprising to see it so early, but they probably see the writing on the
wall. Once Android Wear and Apple wearables start rolling out, it's going to
be a slaughter out there.

Apple and Nike teaming up for the iWatch launch is probably a safe bet now
too.

~~~
callmeed
How certain is everyone that Apple will launch a wearable? I just don't see it
personally.

~~~
SkyMarshal
It's certain, they're working on it, and have hired some of the best people in
the world for things like skin sensors (blood glucose, etc).

------
kjhughes
Update: Nike confirmed a small number of layoffs but denies FuelBand shutdown,
according to re/code:

    
    
      “The Nike+ FuelBand SE remains an important part of our
      business,” the company said in a statement emailed to
      Re/code. “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.”
    

[http://recode.net/2014/04/18/nike-denies-fuelband-
shutdown-b...](http://recode.net/2014/04/18/nike-denies-fuelband-shutdown-but-
layoffs-could-reveal-new-cracks-in-wearables-market/)

~~~
dang
All: should we change the url of the post to this one? It's not clear which is
better.

Edit: there are arguments on both sides. Since the Cnet article seems to be
the original source, let's stick with it.

~~~
jamesaguilar
I would say yes. Fixing misinformation (even honest misinformation) on the
front page is a good thing.

~~~
notatoad
i don't think it's clear that there's any misinformation in the cnet article.
Nike is officially denying killing the product, but they aren't denying that
they've laid off the majority of their hardware team.

~~~
jamesaguilar
It says they will stop making wearable hardware in the title, which Nike is
flatly denying.

~~~
clarky07
not really. They said they will continue to sell the current device and
support it with software. They make no claims to possibly making any new
hardware as far as I could see.

------
jbuzbee
Is it just me, or does anyone else think the term "fired" is improper in cases
like this? I think the more appropriate term for when a company is changing
direction, leaving a market, etc. is "laid-off". To me, "fired" denotes
wrongdoing on the part of the employee. Of course, when you're trying to get
page-views, Fired is likely to get more readers at the expense of the
terminated employees.

~~~
rhizome
It's at the expense of credibility, but it's CNet. These terms have actual
meanings, "laid off" when the position is being eliminated, "fired" when it's
not.

~~~
dingaling
Having a US head-office I'm frequently bemused / confused as to why companies
in that country so readily lay-off the staff of canceled projects, instead of
redeploying them internally to fill other vacancies.

Particularly in large corps there's nearly always some other division crying-
out for staff with hands-on knowledge of their industry and product, instead
of spending $50,000 to hire someone out of college and then train them.

~~~
Philadelphia
Because American companies don't do any training.

------
Theodores
These gadgets might make a nice 'halo' product for a big Nike Town store,
however, from a general retail perspective these fairly standalone electronic
gadgets are a pain to stock, sell and process when they come back as returns.

They just don't sell the units to justify the floor space or the capital for
the stock. Plus there is always someone online that can sell them cheaper
without the hassle of a customer cluttering the shop for an hour whilst they
evaluate the purchase. Staff are not knowledgeable on such items and, in the
time that one gadget is sold, that member of staff could help untold other
customers on products that are core business.

I am sure that Nike could take on all comers with 'first mover advantage' with
wearable gadgets. They could even do a Facebook and buy out the likes of
'strava'. However, these gadgets don't sell too well through the normal retail
channels that Nike rely on for most of their sales.

------
e28eta
I'm surprised by this. To me, it makes a lot of sense that Nike, as a fitness
company, produces a wearable device for exercising.

It must be a failure of my imagination, but I don't see a smart watch (in the
next couple years) being both attractive to the general consumer _and_ solving
the same problems as the FuelBand does. That's partly because I can't imagine
what features would make me want to buy an iWatch. So I expect that Nike's
going to be forced to compromise functionality to fit the limited capabilities
of general-purpose devices.

For example, Craig's proposed iRing doesn't even mention tracking motion
activity: [http://furbo.org/2014/03/13/wearing-
apple/](http://furbo.org/2014/03/13/wearing-apple/)

Also, maybe it's the specific app I use, but using the M7 kills battery life
on my 5S.

~~~
dragonwriter
> I'm surprised by this. To me, it makes a lot of sense that Nike, as a
> fitness company, produces a wearable device for exercising.

I'm not surprised -- they've been pouring money into marketing, and yet not
coming within a mile of the leader (FitBit) in the activity tracker market.

> It must be a failure of my imagination, but I don't see a smart watch (in
> the next couple years) being both attractive to the general consumer and
> solving the same problems as the FuelBand does.

They aren't getting out because of the possibility of future smartwatches,
they are getting out because they are getting killed by what's on the market
and popular _now_.

~~~
e28eta
Does that jive with their stated plan to do software only? Does the FitBit
hardware have an open API that Nike could integrate with?

Or are they stepping back and waiting for Google, Samsung, Apple, etc, to make
a successful hardware device? Whether that's things like the M7 in smartphones
or an extra device.

~~~
dragonwriter
> Does the FitBit hardware have an open API that Nike could integrate with?

Yes: [http://dev.fitbit.com/](http://dev.fitbit.com/)

------
skc
Hmm, so nobody has brought up the possibility of some sort of Apple + Nike
collusion (for lack of a better word) here?

Cook sits on the Nike board. Who's to say he didn't let the folks at Nike in
on what Apple were working on and the two companies decided to make some sort
of deal seeing as the two products would have areas of overlap.

I can see a scenario where Nike features prominently as a partner for Apple's
wearable products.

~~~
thinkling
It's possible that there won't be an Apple iWatch as such, but instead a
platform like Google Wear for others to develop on. But such a thing is hard
to keep secret once you've told a dozen partners about it.

------
interpares
Not a fortuneteller but my guess is they're giving up way too early. One of
the few mass-market, non-tech companies that actually had a shot in wearables.

~~~
k-mcgrady
With the iPhone having the M7 built-in is there any need for the Nike
FuelBand? I find data from the M7 to be quite accurate. Seems like they can
just create the software and let Apple (and eventually Android device makers)
build the hardware.

~~~
leoc
The iPhone's still a heavy, bulky, expensive and fragile thing to take with
you to the gym or out running, as are other smartphones. The screen is also
not easy to interact with while you're exercising seriously. However,
smartwatches or smartglasses with 5s-level-or-better motion sensing and the
capacity to run apps independently of a smartphone do have to the potential to
make dedicated fitness trackers mostly obsolete, though expense and fragility
will still be concerns.

EDIT: This Gruber reaction [http://www.cnet.com/news/nike-fires-fuelband-
engineers-will-...](http://www.cnet.com/news/nike-fires-fuelband-engineers-
will-stop-making-wearable-hardware/) heightens my suspicion that this is an
early omen of an Apple smartwatch launch.

------
scholia
Nike Denies FuelBand Shutdown, but Layoffs Could Reveal New Cracks in
Wearables Market

[http://recode.net/2014/04/18/nike-denies-fuelband-
shutdown-b...](http://recode.net/2014/04/18/nike-denies-fuelband-shutdown-but-
layoffs-could-reveal-new-cracks-in-wearables-market/)

------
sandieman
Not sure I'm totally convinced of this software only argument.

I think of Nike as a brand that stands for high performance equipment.

Shoes, T-shirts, Golf Clubs, etc.

The software they have built around Nike+ has always felt second rate compared
to software focused companies like Runkeeper.

I enjoyed my Nike Fuel band and was always hoping to see more innovation on
this front from them.

I suppose they had to pick one or the other. This move allows them to have a
fitbit software integration which will be big.

I would have stuck with high performance health monitoring hardware and
integrated with every software vendor.

------
fidotron
I'm seeing this from the bottom up in other areas. The general question being
asked is "Isn't this actually just an app? Do we really need the device too?"
And very often the answer is it's just an app.

The Google coming in factor is not to be underestimated, however, what appears
to be going on there is Google effectively ensuring no one (except Apple) gets
to make money on wearable hardware. Apple will steal the premium sector,
again, (mix of iOS compatibility, prestige branding and likely a couple of out
there features) but because Google seem to view it as a way to attach Google
Now to your wrist first and potentially profitable app ecosystem very distant
second they'll drive the price of the hardware down to the point Nike's
decision here looks very wise indeed.

The ad/search business is to Google what Windows is to Microsoft, and in order
to create new profit centres they really need to forget it.

~~~
nanowatcher
You're reasoning is completely off. Google's Android wearables ensures nobody
makes money on wearable OS i.e. _software_. Google has actually opened the
door for companies to now make money on the wearables hardware since the
software is standard. While Google launched wearable by focusing on the Now
integration, there are still hints that fitness apps will be there at launch
of the smartwatches. This is the first time Google and Apple are launching in
a new category at the same time, it's a bit premature to conclude that Apple
will capture the high-end (although they do have iOS customer captive in their
ecosystem)

Nike doesn't figure into this at all. The fuelband never even worked with
Android devices (Tim Cook holding a spot on the Nike board for the past 9
years might do something with that). Mike's play is to get out of the
wristband business before Apple jumps in while keeping their Nike+ integration
with Apple via software and SHOES (Nike's real business) as done previously.
However if this new upcoming Nike+ API can be used by Android devices it would
represent the first real shift in Nike's strategy

~~~
lnanek2
Honestly, Google does prevent almost anyone from making money off the hardware
as well. I was at an Android OEM when Google first started sourcing their own
Nexus line at cut throat prices and Android hardware projects were definitely
canceled because we just couldn't compete with Google. Samsung is about the
only one that can since they have massive economic advantages due to making
most of their own parts. Other Android OEMs make very little numbers or
profit.

~~~
w1ntermute
Hardly any consumers know about the Nexus line. I'd say that's the last thing
an Android OEM should be worried about. The biggest problem is consumer
awareness (the same problem the Nexus line faces), especially when the
carriers are in control, like in the US.'

Unfortunately, using Samsung's approach of overwhelming the public conscious
with advertising isn't feasible for a lot of smaller OEMs, who don't have the
sort of capital necessary to do that. However, signs of hope are developing,
if you take an ultra-lean approach to producing and selling the phone[0].

0: [http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/apr/01/moto-g-
boo...](http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/apr/01/moto-g-boosts-
motorola-mobile-smartphone-sales)

------
jmelloy
My wife finds the FuelBand so ugly she almost finds it offensive. She's a
pretty normal woman, and I'm not suggesting all women feel that way, but it
bears reminding that anything worn on a wrist is actually a fashion accessory
for a lot of people.

------
mafuyu
Shame too, as it was a nice piece of hardware.

You can see a great teardown and explanation of the internals from mike at
mikeselectricstuff here:
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xdajSS_cOU](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xdajSS_cOU)

------
nicholassmith
Interesting timing isn't it, Apple is rumoured to be making a wearables push
and Nike has a cosy relationship there. Maybe they've realised they don't need
to make the hardware to further their aims.

Or, maybe Nike want to refine their product base and the Fuelband isn't a big
enough seller to justify the ongoing cost. I think the wearables market is
some what saturated at the moment and to stand out from the crowd Nike would
need to make a large push. Shame as I liked their purposefully chunky
aesthetics.

------
userbinator
_stop making wearable hardware_

...including shoes?

------
menzoic
Tim Cook is on Nikes board...

~~~
interpares
Where's Carl Icahn when you need him?

~~~
NDizzle
"Help us Carl Icahn, you're our only hope." has a nice ring to it.

------
mdturnerphys
I went to a meetup this week where the senior director of this program spoke.
It was a little surprising to see that his bio had changed from his Nike
affiliation to "innovator at large" when I got to the event, but I didn't
think too much of it at the time.

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ejain
I'm guessing Nike isn't abandoning the FuelBand (or Nike+), just their in-
house hardware team. Wristbands are commodities now, so someone in management
might have decided to outsource.

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Splendor
I returned my FuelBand once Nike broke their promise of developing an Android
app. It seems like there was a lot of confusion on the team.

------
joshdance
I liked the FuelBand, but never bought one. Hopefully Nike either partners
with Apple or they make an App.

~~~
stevekemp
Me too.

I've yet to find a wearable device I can take to the gym and extract the data
from myself. Most of them use online sites and proprietry/undocumented storage
formats.

------
_pmf_
Damn these people for executing the "vision" of some inept executive.

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smackfu
Total market / large number of players = unsustainable business.

~~~
jchrisa
Or maybe the first wave of the next set of things becoming smart. $12 phone
[http://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/?p=3040](http://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/?p=3040)
means maybe we get shoe-phones after all.

------
notastartup
This is my biggest nightmare. Consumer choice being limited due to corporate
politics and killing innovation for bottom line because of old school
corporate thinking.

Imagine working on a product, getting bought out, and seeing your hard work
being dumped in the garbage because that was already their plan. Sure, you
might have millions, but did you really make a change in the world? I think it
would be an empty experience.

