Nike gives the FuelBand the Kibosh to make way for Apple iWatch as Fitness Tracker Field gets crowded

“As a fast-paced, global business we continually align resources with business priorities. As our Digital Sport priorities evolve, we expect to make changes within the team, and there will be a small number of layoffs. We do not comment on individual employment matters. The Nike+ FuelBand SE remains future”

Nike’s PR (Public Relations) spokesperson Brian Strong commenting on the scuppering of the Nike FuelBand

Well that was quick! The Nike FuelBand, a product which I gave a fairly stellar review in my Geezam Blog article entitled “Caribbean rides the Fitness Craze as Nike FuelBand SE making Apple iPhone users healthier” recently got the axe with the merry men working in the Nike's Digital Sports Hardware division being re-assigned or fired as of Friday April 18^th 2014.

As in, 80% of the Team that is responsible for making this and other products, including their Fitness watch and other up and coming Gadgets as reported in “REPORT: NIKE MAY KILL THE FUELBAND, FIRES MOST OF THE HARDWARE TEAM”, published April 18, 2014 By Mike Flacy, DigitalTrends.

Shock and Awe!

Word initially leaked via Secret, an anonymous Mobile Social Network that is similar in structure to Whisper. Most likely a member of the Nike FuelBand Team, like Whisper, Secret allows it members to post anonymous posts that are matched by a picture by the system to express the angst of the sender as described in my blog article entitled “Whisper, the Anonymous Secret Sharing Social Mobile Network - Confession of Awkward Moment being revealed fuelled by the desire to Bare your Soul to Strangers”.

This sender certainly was experiencing angst as expressed in the exclusive article “Exclusive: Nike fires majority of FuelBand team, will stop making wearable hardware”, published April 18, 2014 4:41 PM PDT by Nick Statt, CNET News.

Possibly more upset because of the wasted man-hours and energy channeled into the Nike FuelBand as he laid the blame squarely at the feet of management, to quote the anonymous source:  “The douchebag execs at Nike are going to lay off a bunch of the eng team who developed The FuelBand, and other Nike+ stuff. Mostly because the execs committed gross negligence, wasted tons of money, and didn’t know what they were doing”.

The obvious clue can be seen from a statement issued by Nike’s PR (Public Relations) spokesperson Brian Strong, which indicates a reshuffle of employees to various products as well as continued support for the Nike FuelBand. Sources that leaked info to CNET claim a reshuffle is on the cards, with team members located at Nike's Hong Kong office as well as the Big House at HQ in Beaverton, Oregon riding out the month of May until the axe drops.

Those who may be deemed "valuable" may be kept to focus on Software projects in Nike's Digital Sports Hardware division. clearly ongoing long term support will be given to the few who'd purchased the US$149.95 Nike’s FuelBand SE, albeit it's price for a device that really only worn for Exercise was a bit on the high Luxury Watch Side.

However, his energy is somewhat misplaced. Albeit I’m not fond of management of any company shuttering any research project, especially if you put Heart and Soul into it, their decision are usually based on Business as pointed out in “With FuelBand exit, Nike signals the limits of tech's appeal”, published April 22, 2014 7:49 AM PDT by Nick Statt, CNET News.

In this case, it’s all about the as-yet-to-be-seen-but-much-talked-about Apple iWatch which I’d predicted to make its debut in March 2013 but never showed up as per my Geezam Blog article entitled “Apple to debut Apple iWatch in March 2013 – iWant one and iCant Wait”.

Nike’s fairly close to Apple, evident from the fact that their Nike FuelBand SE was and STILL is exclusively for Apple iOS. Since Nike gave their Nike's Digital Sports Hardware division, whether or not it was an immediate success, it implies Apple may have offered them the chance to use their software in the design of their Smartwatch.

Thus, to avoid a conflict with their long-time business partner, they just folded Nike's Digital Sports Hardware division and gave up their Software and other hardware innovations to Apple. I’m willing to bet the 80% that got cut, may soon be getting calls from Apple to both jump ship and become a part of Apple’s iWatch Team.

Working part-time as Software Engineers on a Team to provided continued maintenance for the Nike FuelBand, now resurrected as the Heart and Soul of the Apple iWatch that powered by a combination of Kinetic Motion, Solar Power and Inductive charging as suggested in “Building a Better Battery”, published February 2 2014 By BRIAN X. CHEN and NICK BILTONFEB, The New York Times.

This isn’t so bad as it’ may be exactly what I’d predicted in my blog article entitled “Apple considering Inductive, Solar and Kinetic Charging for Apple iWatch - Apple iWatch will start the Post-Power Adapter Era and kill the power Brick, the last vestage of the Analog Era”, given the “Secret”-ive nature of how the team members in the Nike's Digital Sports Hardware division got the Kibosh!