With Apple Watch rumours continuing to do the rounds, industry specialist Fitbit has suggested such a launch would benefit the whole wearables market.
Although Apple has yet to offer any formal indication that it will enter the smartwatch race, Benoit Raimbault, Fitbit’s Marketing Director has predicted that if the mooted Apple iWatch does make it to market, the wider wearables industry will reap the benefits.
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Fielding questions on the potential effect of an Apple iWatch release, he added: “We will all get the benefit if Apple enter and grow the market.”
Although Apple has yet to announce its own dedicated wearable gadget, the company is no stranger to personal fitness tracking features – a stalwart of the wearables space.
As well as having a longstanding partnership with Nike – with Nike apps coming preinstalled on the iPod nano – Apple recently introduced the M7, a chipset and sensor package used to monitor all manner of user data metrics such as movements and speeds.
“We are using the M7 with our Mobile Track feature,” Raimbault said.” You can download the app for free and you can count your steps with the M7 in the iPhone 5S. It is a good start.”
Despite predicting Apple would poses the power to give the wearables sector a major consumer boost, the Fitbit exec has claimed that other leading manufacturers already in the wearables space are not having the same effect.
“LG and Sony are getting into this space but probably more from a tablet and smartphone accessory type of device,” he said.
“We start with the core, which is really health and fitness. It is our core business. LG and Sony’s offerings sit more adjacent to their core business.”
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
