In a move that probably shouldn’t come as a huge surprise to anyone, it appears that Apple has ceased selling wrist-worn health products in both its retail and online Apple Store. With the Apple Watch set to go on sale next month, removing items that compete with some of its competition seems to be the reason, at least in part.
A check of the Apple online store shows that Jawbone UP and Nike+ FuelBand have been removed from sale, with Fitbit products having already been nixed. The only product of that ilk still up for sale is the Mio Alpha Heart Rate Monitor Watch.
In an effort to assess the situation in Apple’s brick and mortar stores, Re/code found that stores in San Francisco, Palo Alto, Los Angeles, and New York had all removed the same products from its shelves. Those that clip to a person’s body appear to be exempt from the cull, though that will be little comfort to the firms affected. Apple has a good relationship with Nike and even shares a board member, so the fact it has fallen foul of the move is an interesting one. It’s true when they say there are no friends in business.
Speaking to Re/code, Mio founder Liz Dickinson says her company has been told that their devices will be removed from sale also, with new Apple retail head Angela Ahrendts the likely reason. Apple only has so much floor space after all, and with Apple Watches and accessories to display something had to give.
“They said they brought in a new executive in the marketing area who wanted to re-work branding for the stores, and to make the Apple brand more front and center and clean up and minimize the number of accessories.”
The Apple Watch will be available for pre-order on April 10th and goes on sale two weeks later – the 24th.
(via: Re/code)
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