Although Nike seemingly abandoned future FuelBand hardware, the company is working closely with Apple to advance wearables overall. In an interview with Bloomberg News, Nike CEO Mark Parker says he is “bullish” on the company’s relationship with Apple. “As I look ahead at what’s possible with Nike and Apple… technologically we can do things together that we couldn’t do independently,” explains Parker. “So yeah, that’s part of our plan, is to expand the whole digital frontier in terms of wearables and go from…25 million Nike+ users to hundreds of millions.”

Apple and Nike are working on new item of wearable technology that will have greater integration into existing gadgets, and is less obvious and more “stealth”, according to the Nike chief executive, Mark Parker. Nike has long been making wearable technology, originally partnering with Apple for its Nike+ running sensor range in 2006, which connected wirelessly to the iPod. Nike discontinued its FuelBand fitness-tracking bracelet in April, shutting down the team that made it, which saw two of its key engineers move to Apple to work on the Apple Watch. But Parker is still bullish on wearable technology as a key part of Nike’s future. “I think it’s going to be a big part of the future, absolutely,” said Parker in an interview with Bloomberg TV. “I think the form it takes is critical. You can go from the very geeky kind of wearables today – we’ve all seen some of those – to what I think you’ll see in the future, things that are more stealth, more integrated, more stylish and more functional, yes.”