Last week we heard the rumor that Nike was scaling down its FuelBand hardware team and shifting its focus to the associated software and underlying platform. Now CEO Mark Parker has told CNBC that the sports giant is indeed concentrating on software development as it looks to grow the userbase of its NikeFuel tracking system. Whether or not that vision includes future versions of the FuelBand remains to be seen, but Parker did say that Nike would be teaming up with other companies in the years to come.
On the heels of Nike’s announcement that it plans to discontinue production of FuelBand, its wrist-worn device, CEO Mark Parker told CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” that the company is changing its focus to software through its NikeFuel activity-tracking product and other apps. Parker said “digital sport” is going to be integrated into more Nike products. “We think it’s going to be a bigger and bigger factor in terms of experience with the products we create,” he said. Parker said Nike’s goal is to increase NikeFuel users to 100 million from 30 million. To do that, Nike will be expanding its partnerships with companies such as its most visible partner, Apple. “We’ve been working with them for a long time, and we’re excited to see where that relationship goes going forward,” he said.
