Nike has reportedly fired majority of FuelBand team as it is cutting down on its wearable hardware efforts to focus on fitness and sports software offerings.
CNET was the first to report on the layoffs and Nike has also confirmed the layoffs. The 70-person FuelBand team was a part of a 200-strong Digital Sport division, which also worked on apps, software interface design among other things. The report claims that as many as 55 people were let go.
Nike will not only put an end to its FuelBand, it won’t be bringing out any new wearable hardware either. A new version of FuelBand was in the making, but reports suggest that the project has been nixed as well.
Nike spokesman Brian Strong confirmed the layoffs to CNET in an emailed statement that read: “As a fast-paced, global business we continually align resources with business priorities.
“As our Digital Sport priorities evolve, we expect to make changes within the team, and there will be a small number of layoffs. We do not comment on individual employment matters.”
Nike may be pulling out of the wearable hardware market considering the increased competition from the likes of Samsung, LG, Sony, Pebble, Google and Fitbit among others, but chances are the company will continue advancing into the software based fitness and sports offerings.
Nike+ and NikeFuel are two of the popular apps that the sports company has already been successful with and chances are that it will let other major vendors battle it out over the hardware while it concentrates its fitness and sports expertise in the software division.
