Nike’s CEO says the company still has future plans for wearables even though it discontinued its FuelBand.
While Nike has abandoned its fitness tracking bracelet, Mark Parker, the company’s chief executive, hinted that it may be collaborating with Apple on future wearable tech and indicated that the device would likely be more integrated and less obvious than current wearables on the market.
The future wearable product could be more practical and more “stealth”.
“You can go from the very geeky kind of wearables today – we’ve all seen some of those – to what I think you’ll see in the future, things that are more stealth, more integrated, more stylish and more functional, yes,” said Parker in an interview with Bloomberg TV.
Although Parker was not clear on what type of technology the company may be developing, it does seem that he could be hinting that they are not sticking to the typical wristband idea that is common among the majority of fitness trackers. Instead, their wearable idea may lead to the creation of a product that is equipped with smarter and smaller sensors that could be integrated into fashion accessories or clothing, for example.
A future wearable tech product collaboration may be new for Nike and Apple but the companies have previously worked together.
Back in 2006, the companies partnered for the Nike+running sensor range, which wirelessly connected to Apple’s iPod. In fact, Parker personally worked with Steve Jobs, Apple’s founder. Meanwhile, Tim Cook, Apple’s current CEO, serves on Nike’s board of directors. Furthermore, after Nike shut down its Fuelband division, many people who were part of this division, moved to Apple to work on the Apple Watch.
Parker states that “Technologically we can do things together that we couldn’t do independently.” He added that part of the company’s plan is to expand the entire “digital frontier” in regard to wearables and grow from tens of millions of Nike users to hundreds of millions.
It is unknown what type of wearable tech will be produced from the hinted Nike and Apple partnership. That being said, beyond potential future wearable projects, it is probable that a Nike+ app will be made available for the Apple Watch and that it will likely integrate with the electronic giant’s new Health app.
Tim Cook has already been expressing a number of different hopes that have to do with China. Among the more recent announcements have been that the Apple Pay mobile payments service would also be rolling out in the country. This could turn the Chinese population into the largest revenue generator for this American premium mobile device company.