Attorney Michael de Broglio on: South Africa, Law, Politics, Attorneys, Sport, Photography, Technology, Gadgets, Media, Crime, Road Accidents Fund,
Divorce, Maintenance, Personal Injury, Medical Negligence
I have long been a fan of the various exercise bands that count steps and monitor your sleep, but it is interesting to see how each one of them struggles with reliability. I gave up on the Jawbone band, named Up, because of its reliability issues, and my wife’s Fitbit recently broke. The Fitbit share price just over a year ago was $33 and now it is at approximately $8 – which shows you that there are some concerns in the market and with investors with the company’s future. I note that Amazon.com released a press release detailing its December sales and highlighting the sales of a Garmin smart watch. That was taken as a negative, because Fitbit was not named by Amazon and of course the other big challenge to Fitbit and to the Up band is the fact that the Apple watch is now competing with them and most people would prefer not to have Apple as a competitor of theirs!
Posted by Michael de Broglio on Wednesday 22-Feb-17
Post a Comment
Comments
Brenda van den Bergh said:
on Tuesday 14-Mar-17 04:02 PM
I am not surprised the share price has gone down so drastically to be honest. The fitbit is quite expensive and for that price for it not to last long will definitely cause concern in the stock market. They will have to come up with one super plan to be able to justify their prices of the device or they will soon find themselves at the bottom of the food chain.
Tersia said:
on Monday 06-Mar-17 12:38 PM
I have a fitbit watch and could not be happier. It has the same features as all the other fitness watches on the market. For me it was about the look, I like the way the Fitbit looks - there are others that are way to small for me but are for example water proof which mine is not. The Samsung watch is also very good-looking. In this day and age there will always be something coming out and then other brands making theirs better, I think a little competition is good, it will make the other brands strive more to come up with something the latest brands have not.
Nicolle said:
on Monday 06-Mar-17 11:00 AM
My opinion on Apple still stands. Apple is a big "brand", soul-sucking, money wasting corporation - whose primary target is sales, sales, sales! And so it should be, it is a big business after all.
That being said, I am curious to know who actually uses their "health watches" once they've spent a pretty penny on it? I think, for most people it's a facade! The, "Oh look at me, I have a Fitbit, so you'll assume I am a health junkie."
I also wonder if people with these watches ever actually increase their level of activity?
Sarah said:
on Friday 03-Mar-17 08:25 AM
A lot of people these days are using the watches and especially the health freaks .Apple should work more on their products.
Melissa van Tellingen said:
on Wednesday 01-Mar-17 08:31 AM
I see more and more people with these similar whatches. They cost an arm and a leg I've seen. People will take out any amount of money for their own wellbeing especially the health freaks.
Brenda Du Toit said:
on Tuesday 28-Feb-17 08:38 AM
I would love one of these.Once I get more serious and active.People aren`t scared to take out money for their health.
Jolene said:
on Monday 27-Feb-17 08:28 AM
I see so many people who sell their Fitbits or similar watches, I think it one of those things that is nice to have and then you end up not using it after sometime. I don’t have one as long as my jeans still fits I’m OK. LOL @ Zanell
Prishani said:
on Friday 24-Feb-17 04:25 PM
With Fitbit not doing as well as they would like to, I think that Apple watch coming into the market as their competitor might be a good thing. Having two brands like this compete against each other can only lead to better end products for the consumer, with each brand trying to improve the flaws of the other.
Liz said:
on Thursday 23-Feb-17 04:58 PM
If companies want to compete with industry big shots such as Apple they should definitely invest more time in perfecting their product and ensuring reliability.
Tamaryn said:
on Thursday 23-Feb-17 04:30 PM
If Fitbit is going to be competing against Apple then I don't think their future sales bode well! Having said that, most of what Fitbit and Garmin smart watches do, smart phone app's can do. In which case, Apple is most likely going to have the advantage over the remaining smart watch manufacturors.
Jessica Apfel said:
on Thursday 23-Feb-17 07:58 AM
Fitbit may have been the first of its kind or atleast one of the first, it certainly is not the best! I have a Polar M400 and I love it! It has a GPS Tracker which is 100% accurate and its battery life astounds me. My partner has a Tom Tom fit watch and he too has not had any complaints with it! He has swam many kilometers with it on and it has not had any problems to date! There are superior alternatives within the market.
Nicky said:
on Wednesday 22-Feb-17 04:53 PM
I think that with Fitbit not monopolising the industry has definitely resulted in the decreased sales.
I always wonder though, are we too reliant on technology-people could still survive and get through their days before we could literally count each step we take.
Jadine said:
on Wednesday 22-Feb-17 04:41 PM
The lesson that all Company’s should take from this is ...“Do not underestimate the market and become comfortable. What is working for the market today, may not be working for the market tomorrow. Constant evolution remains key."
Henrietta said:
on Wednesday 22-Feb-17 04:33 PM
I like the look Garmin one and the Apple watch but not a huge fan of Apple. It sound like a real motivator, I think these watches are amazing to keep track. I agree, most people would not like to compete against Apple, such a huge and popular name.
Suzanne said:
on Wednesday 22-Feb-17 04:10 PM
I would love one of these. I would probably try and beat my steps of the previous day, everyday - which is not a bad thing at all! My best friend has a Fitbit and completely relies on it to monitor every little thing.
Sinead said:
on Wednesday 22-Feb-17 02:33 PM
I was actually looking at getting the Polar watch. Then I thought about getting an exercise band to match my phone - which would then be the Sony Smartband. I'm still deciding though, because if I get one to match my phone then I have to stick with a Sony phone longer than I would like to. One colleague had the Garmin band and it looks really nice... So I'll just see which one I like most.
Mathilda said:
on Wednesday 22-Feb-17 12:01 PM
I know of a few people who has the Fitbit and of those few people most of them have or had problems with it, I won’t get a Fitbit or any fitness watch for that matter as it will irritate me , I don’t actually wear watched or jewellery around my wrists especially when I workout
brumilde said:
on Wednesday 22-Feb-17 11:03 AM
I think it is cool, but i would have no use for it. The samsung Gear Fit2 comes out in pink,,, sooooo pretty. and you can receive calls and load apps, but just like the VR of the PS4 now. its a cool gadget but they still need to work on some tweeks here and there
Daniella said:
on Wednesday 22-Feb-17 10:17 AM
I have always wanted one but in all honesty because i have an iphone i would prefer to get the apple watch, but the pricing factor also comes to play.
Lourien said:
on Wednesday 22-Feb-17 09:59 AM
It is very strange that the prices are dropping and interesting that their reliability is also not that great. I would of loved to get one of these and it was on my to do list as I though it would be a good investment to track your sleep and your heart rate. I will certainly have do investigate these a little more.
Michelle said:
on Wednesday 22-Feb-17 09:47 AM
I can’t believe the different type of gadgets that we have these days. That people are actually so smart to invent such devices. I wonder what they will come up with next. People aren`t scared to take out money for their health.
Angelique Jurgens said:
on Wednesday 22-Feb-17 09:09 AM
I was so excited to get my first Fitbit and it broke - I had a major problem with the store returning it. My second Fitbit battery kept dying so I gave up on fitbit a long time ago. I then spoke to a few colleagues who recommended a Polar watch. I started saving for the Polar M400 or M600. I am a fan of tracking my fitness because as I get older I truly need more motivation to gym. I will be the first to admit that for a few months I blamed studying on not gyming as hard as I should. A fitness tracking watch is definitely a bit of a motivation especially when you start getting a bit competitive with family and friends. I haven't considered the Garmin but perhaps I should compare.
Juliet said:
on Wednesday 22-Feb-17 09:00 AM
First world problems LOL. I don't have the time to think about how many steps I am taking, I just make sure I get everywhere I need to go, do everything I need to do, and am glad if I get some sleep!! :)
Ashleigh said:
on Wednesday 22-Feb-17 08:55 AM
When I actually do start making time to exercise, :) I will really think about getting myself one of these. I certainly wouldn't want to waste the use of this technology by buying one and never using it.
Cornelie said:
on Wednesday 22-Feb-17 08:48 AM
I see arround the office alot of people have the fitbit. I wont mind getting one but I only wear gold wont work on my arm.
Bianca said:
on Wednesday 22-Feb-17 08:29 AM
Wow that is a massive plummet in the share price and quite frankly I would be concerned about purchasing a Fitbit with those stats. When shares prices drop like that it can only be that the quality of their products has decreased and investors are no longer confident in the brand as a result. I have heard that the quality of a Polar fitness watch far exceeds the Fitbit and I'm sure there is no longer any competition between the two brands.
Angelique P said:
on Wednesday 22-Feb-17 08:27 AM
I while ago I bought a Fitbit Blaze and I am just loving it. I like how it tells you how many calories you’ve burnt during an exercise or how did you sleep during the night. The reason why I chose the Blaze is you can change the wrist bands so if it breaks you can only replace it but with the Surge if the wrist band breaks you must buy a new device. I know the new Apple watch is absolutely amazing but for now my Fitbit works 100%.
Zindy said:
on Wednesday 22-Feb-17 08:25 AM
I wouldn't mind getting one to monitor how busy I am during the day, It would be interesting to do a survey and compare different people and there lifestyles
Zanell said:
on Wednesday 22-Feb-17 08:25 AM
I have polar watch and she is very difficult to please lol, It is not as expensive as the fancy fit bit but it does pretty much exactly the same. I enjoy it because it makes me want to increase my steps everyday! Once I get more serious and active - I will look at getting a fancier one.
Zanell said:
on Wednesday 22-Feb-17 08:24 AM
I have polar watch and she is very difficult to please lol, It is not as expensive as the fancy fit bit but it does pretty much exactly the same. I enjoy it because it makes me want to increase my steps everyday! Once I get more serious and active - I will look at getting a fancier one.
Clare said:
on Wednesday 22-Feb-17 08:19 AM
This is awesome, but I don't have money for it nor will I ever use it, as I don't like to wear things on my arm so I would never really look at buying things like this, But I would be call to see how much walking and Cardio I do in a Day and to see that my heart beat is great.
Thabitha said:
on Wednesday 22-Feb-17 07:57 AM
Competition is good sometime the more you have competition the more they will up their reliability, even the price must tell you something.
Alexis said:
on Wednesday 22-Feb-17 06:50 AM
It is a very nice thing to monitor I suppose, however not really for me. Suppose it would set goals in ones mind and give you an idea of how much you do in one day. Well if Apple is reliable and works, the challenge is needed to make theirs better and more reliable
Johannesburg based attorney specializing in personal injury matters including Road Accident Fund claims and medical negligence matters. My interests include golf, reading and the internet and the way it is constantly developing. I have a passion for life and a desire for less stress!
