Nike is abandoning its FuelBand fitness tracker as a hardware product but will continue to develop software for wearables. The announcement confirmed a rumor from a week ago that the company was winding down production of the FuelBand. In recent weeks, Nike had reportedly let go most of those employees who were responsible for working on FuelBand hardware—approximately 70 to 80 percent of its 70-member FuelBand working group.
The company’s head said software would be a “bigger and bigger” deal going forward as the company transitions away from creating wearable technology like its FuelBand device Nike’s chief executive officer confirmed the sportswear giant was moving away from developing hardware and wearable technology after it was reported that the company was shuttering the team behind its FuelBand fitness-tracking device. “We are focusing more on the software side of the experience,” Nike CEO Mark Parker said during an appearance on CNBC’s Squawk on the Street on Friday. “I think we will be part of wearables going forward, it’ll be integrated into other products that we create.”
