Fitbit has revealed it plans to go public, filing for a $100 million (£65 million) IPO.
The San Francisco-based company, which is behind the Fitbit Charge HR and Fitbit Surge activity trackers, plans to trade on the NYSE under the symbol ‘FIT’.
The move comes after a very successful spell for the firm, fuelled by the rise in popularity of fitness gadgets.
Fitbit says it flogged 10.9 million of its trackers in 2014, bringing in $745.4 million (£482.5 million) in revenue. This compares with the $271.1 million (£175.6 million) revenue it earned in 2013.
Net income for 2014 stands at $131.8 million (£85.4 million), a huge improvement on the $51.6 million (£33.4 million) loss it suffered the previous year.
Fitbit’s active user base has also grown impressively, standing at 6.7 million at the end of 2014, compared to 2.6 million at the end of 2013.
“By offering a broad range of products spanning styles and affordable price points and cross-platform compatibility, we empower a wide range of individuals with different fitness routines and goals that are difficult for other competitors to address,” reads the company’s filing, which goes on to aim a slight dig at the Apple Watch.
“Our products, which are specifically oriented towards health and fitness, have accurate measurements, insightful analytics, compact sizes, durability, and long battery lives,” it continues.
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“We believe this singular focus allows us to compete favorably with companies that have introduced or have announced plans to introduce devices with broad-based functionalities, including health and fitness tracking capabilities, which are not necessarily optimized for health and fitness usage.”
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Editorial independence
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.
