• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

OpenAI says its AI models secretly broke out of a secure test environment and hacked into AI company Hugging Face in order to cheat on an evaluation

2

Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock

3

Mathematicians grapple with a ‘very rapid and very unsettling change’ as AI cracks yet another century-old problem

1

OpenAI says its AI models secretly broke out of a secure test environment and hacked into AI company Hugging Face in order to cheat on an evaluation

2

Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock

3

Mathematicians grapple with a ‘very rapid and very unsettling change’ as AI cracks yet another century-old problem
TechFitbit

While Apple and Other Smartwatch Rivals Go High, Fitbit Goes Low—In Prices

By
Aaron Pressman
Aaron Pressman
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Aaron Pressman
Aaron Pressman
Down Arrow Button Icon
March 6, 2019, 9:00 AM ET
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Fitbit is pushing a smartwatch strategy that’s noticeably different from rivals Apple, Garmin, and Samsung: Lower prices.

On Wednesday, Fitbit unveiled four new devices, all priced below its previous smartwatches and some below its most popular fitness trackers, as well. And the struggling company offered a few hints about a new effort to raise revenue through a premium subscription service.

The most expensive of the new products, called the Fitbit Versa Lite, is a smartwatch that lacks a few features available on the company’s 2018 hit, the Versa. Priced at $160, the Versa Lite costs 20% less, but can’t count the number of laps a user swims, store music files, or be used for mobile payments. It still includes sleep tracking, four-day battery life, and compatibility with Fitbit’s app ecosystem. Fitbit also said it would continue selling the original $200 Versa and $300 Ionic, introduced in 2017, without any hardware updates yet (“stay tuned on that front,” says CEO James Park).

Other new products introduced on Wednesday were even cheaper. A new fitness tracker with a touchscreen display, called the Inspire, will cost just $70. A model with heart-rate tracking, called Inspire HR, costs $100.

They’re both meant to update a couple of Fitbit’s aging trackers, such as the Alta and the Zip. Finally, the company updated its Ace tracker for kids with a model called the Ace 2 that, at $70, will cost 30% less than the earlier edition.

The goal is to increase the number of active users of Fitbit devices and then sell them a new subscription service that is supposed to debut in the second half of this year, CEO Park tells Fortune. Without revealing much detail, he said the subscription would include more coaching, guidance and content to help users with issues like weight management, improving sleep, and reducing stress.

“It’s really not just about the devices for us anymore but thinking about our business model as a combination of devices and services,” Park says. “We really focused this spring’s launch on making sure that our products were much more affordable and simpler to use.”

Services could also help improve Fitbit’s profit margin. The company’s gross profit was about 40% of its revenues last year. Digital services could be much more profitable if they can attract enough customers. Apple disclosed it reaped a 63% gross margin on its services last quarter, for example.

Lower-priced devices should also help Fitbit attract more healthcare plans and large employers to its burgeoning corporate business. Insurers like UnitedHealthcare and Humana are giving customers Fitbit trackers to help them exercise more regularly. That boosts device sales along with some services Fitbit offers the insurers. Fitbit’s healthcare business should hit $100 million of revenue this year, Park says.

Apple (AAPL) went in the opposite direction with its smartwatch lineup last fall. The Apple Watch Series 4 started at $399, up from $329 for the previous year’s entry-level edition. A model with cellular connectivity costs $499, up from $399. And Garmin (GRMN) is expected to add a price premium to a new version of its $280 vivoactive 3 Music smartwatch that will include cellular connectivity and go on sale in the next few weeks. None of Fitbit’s products yet come with cellular connectivity.

Fitbit is also developing a loyalty program that will let customers earn points from activities tracked on their Fitbit devices that will be redeemable for discounts on Fitbit products and rewards from partners such as Adidas, Blue Apron (APRN), and Deezer. Fitbit noticed that a program used by UnitedHealthcare to reward members with up to $1,500 a year in rewards for exercise activities gained popularity and it decided to offer something similar to its own customers, Park explained. “It really incentivized people so we’re taking what we learned there and applying it to our consumer side,” he said.

And all Fitbit customers should have access to an overhauled mobile app for their phones soon, Park said.

Park and his team are still trying to pull Fitbit (FIT) out of the doldrums. Sales of fitness trackers peaked at 22.3 million in 2016, a year after Apple introduced its first smartwatch. Fitbit’s first smartwatch, the Ionic, didn’t go on sale until over two years after Apple’s and was hardly a smash hit. With more consumers seeking more capable smartwatches, Fitbit sold only 15.3 million devices in 2017 and 13.9 million last year. And Fitbit’s stock has lost over 70% of its value since the company went public almost four years ago.

Wednesday’s device announcements comes a week after Fitbit disappointed Wall Street with its fourth quarter results and a weaker-than-expected forecast for 2019.

Revenue of $571 million was unchanged from a year earlier and slightly better than analysts expected. But a forecast of $1.52 billion to $1.58 billion for this year, versus $1.51 billion in 2018, disappointed investors and ended a recent stock rally. After finishing 2018 below $5 per share, Fitbit’s stock had rallied to just under $7—until the quarterly results on Feb. 27. The stock has since slumped, closing at $5.92 on Tuesday.

About the Author
By Aaron Pressman
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • TikTok icon
  • YouTube icon

Latest in Tech

‘It’s called StreetEasy, not StreetHard’: Mamdani cracks down on scourge of ‘housefishing’ and ‘real estate slop’
Real EstateHousing
‘It’s called StreetEasy, not StreetHard’: Mamdani cracks down on scourge of ‘housefishing’ and ‘real estate slop’
By Tatiana SatauaJuly 22, 2026
3 hours ago
As Washington panics about Chinese AI, Jensen Huang says open-source models like Kimi are ‘excellent’ and should be embraced, not banned
AIChina
As Washington panics about Chinese AI, Jensen Huang says open-source models like Kimi are ‘excellent’ and should be embraced, not banned
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezJuly 22, 2026
3 hours ago
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman sits next to U.S. President Donald Trump.
AITech regulation
OpenAI’s rogue hacking incident was a warning shot. Will it be a wake-up call to finally create AI safety regulation?
By Jeremy Kahn and Emily ForliniJuly 22, 2026
3 hours ago
Man holding his hands open
InvestingStock
A new group of stocks is transforming global equities markets. Meet ‘Memi,’ the $3 trillion sector fueled by AI’s insatiable hunger for memory chips
By Amanda GerutJuly 22, 2026
4 hours ago
Sam Altman getting into a car
CybersecurityOpenAI
OpenAI’s models went rogue and hacked Hugging Face. It’s a wake-up call, experts say, but more concerning behavior may be next
By Beatrice NolanJuly 22, 2026
4 hours ago
Northrop Grumman launches private robot mission to strap jetpacks on aging satellites
InnovationSpaceX
Northrop Grumman launches private robot mission to strap jetpacks on aging satellites
By Marcia DunnJuly 22, 2026
6 hours ago

Most Popular

OpenAI says its AI models secretly broke out of a secure test environment and hacked into AI company Hugging Face in order to cheat on an evaluation
Cybersecurity
OpenAI says its AI models secretly broke out of a secure test environment and hacked into AI company Hugging Face in order to cheat on an evaluation
By Jeremy Kahn and Emily ForliniJuly 21, 2026
1 day ago
Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock
Success
Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock
By Sasha RogelbergJuly 20, 2026
2 days ago
Mathematicians grapple with a ‘very rapid and very unsettling change’ as AI cracks yet another century-old problem
AI
Mathematicians grapple with a ‘very rapid and very unsettling change’ as AI cracks yet another century-old problem
By Eva RoytburgJuly 21, 2026
1 day ago
Despite a $156 million contract, Knicks star Jalen Brunson still calls his parents for financial advice any time he makes a big purchase
Success
Despite a $156 million contract, Knicks star Jalen Brunson still calls his parents for financial advice any time he makes a big purchase
By Emma BurleighJuly 21, 2026
1 day ago
‘I want to die broke’: Billionaire philanthropist Denny Sanford dies after giving away $4 billion
Success
‘I want to die broke’: Billionaire philanthropist Denny Sanford dies after giving away $4 billion
By Sydney LakeJuly 20, 2026
2 days ago
The millennial generation has split, new Fed research shows: Those over 35 are edging toward boomer-style wealth, while everyone else falls behind
Real Estate
The millennial generation has split, new Fed research shows: Those over 35 are edging toward boomer-style wealth, while everyone else falls behind
By Nick LichtenbergJuly 22, 2026
7 hours ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.