Somehow Fitbit continues to make the wearables market work

While everyone else seems to struggle to make any money in the floundering wearables market, Fitbit has boasted of shipping more than one million Versa devices since general availability began on April 16.

Fitbit’s Versa smartwatch has been marketed as a ‘personalized daily health and fitness companion’, featuring an on-device health dashboard, tetherless connectivity, mobile payments, Android quick replies and healthy battery life. Aside from having a use which is appealing to a niche, but dedicated demographic (fitness and health fanatics), pricing the product at $199.95 makes Versa accessible. With more than one million shipments inside seven weeks, it seems Fitbit might be onto another winner after a couple of difficult months.

“With Fitbit Versa, we are delivering on our promise to offer a true mass appeal smartwatch with engaging new features,” said James Park, CEO of Fitbit. “The positive response to Versa shows that we are filling this void and well positions us to gain share of the fast-growing smartwatch market.”

Despite Park’s positivity, the company has been struggling in recent months. The firm announced sales of $247.9 million for the quarter in May, and while this number was up on analyst expectations, it was short of the $298.9 million generated during the same period of 2017, and even further behind the $505.4 million in Q1 2016. Fitbit had defied the trends in the wearables community for years, but it seemed time had caught up. That said, the numbers being quoted for the Versa device seem to offer hope.

For years Fitbit has seemingly been one of the few companies who was able to make headway in the struggling wearables market. In truth, the technology was not, and probably still isn’t, ready. Standalone connectivity was a big step forward last year, if a device was tethered to a phone what was the point, but the simplicity and niche appeal of the Fitbit exercise devices made it a lucrative venture for the team.

Another positive move for the team seems to be the launch of a new female health tracking feature, which has been downloaded by 2.4 million users. Entering into the services market is certainly a good move for Fitbit, as the last six months have shown how dangerous the product market can be; Versa was needed to recapture momentum, though recurring revenues through apps is a sensible supporting revenue stream.

This is not the moment of euphoria for wearables, Nokia’s plight with Withing’s demonstrates Fitbit is the exception not the rule. The product is still reliant on the development of other technologies before it becomes a genuine feature of the connected economy. Standalone connectivity was an important step forward, but the voice interface will be another one, as will eSIMs, gesture control and specific connectivity plans for the devices.

Fitbit might be able to make this space work right now, but there is still some way for everyone else.