The well-known Fitbit Inc, on Wednesday, launched its cheapest smartwatch to maintain its position in smartwatches sales after Apple Inc. The Fitbit which is San Francisco-based Company said that the Versa Lite smartwatch set users back approx. $160 – down from $200 for a full version. While training and heart rate are still being tracked, there are certain features such as the ability for music to be stored directly on the watch.
The data firm Strategy Analytics reported that Fitbit sold 5.5 million smartwatches back in 2018, just ahead of Samsung’s 5.3 million units behind the largest seller Apple Inc’s 22.5 million units. But in the last three months of 2018, Samsung overtook Fitbit.
Indeed, a competition for a higher market share has increased as Fitbit’s core focus has been on health tracking – similar to Apple and Samsung. The Apple Watch housed an Electrocardiogram last year, and this year Samsung added its Galaxy Active Watch with a blood pressure sensor.
In an effort to attract even more casual users who might not be prepared for the costlier devices of their rivals Fitbit also announced new versions of its cheaper tracking units: $100 Fitbit HR, capable to track heart rate and $70 Ace 2, which monitors activities for children under the age of 6.
Apple doesn’t make its way towards the cheapest smartwatches and trackers and its watches start at $279 whereas Samsung’s watches and trackers start at $200.
Fitbit tries to persuade investors to sell their future devices and hang them up to their tracker and to store and share information on health and activities by putting them on its tracking platform.
Ahead of a product release, Chief Executive James Park at a press event said that, Fitbit has approximately 20 million active users, for now. Fitbit forecast sales of between $250 million and $268 million in the first quarter last months and according to the IBES data from Refinitiv, it was lower as compared to analysts’ average sales expectation of $272.3 million.
