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Wearables: Fitbit to remain ‘leading player’ despite Apple snub

Fitbit might not be business buddies with Apple anymore, but it’s still set to trump fitness tracker rivals for the foreseeable future.

A new report by Juniper Research has detailed how Fitbit will still remain top dog in fitness trackers, despite Apple’s decision to cut the firm’s wares from its online store.

Apple chopped Fitbit fare earlier this month, likely a response to Fitbit’s earlier decision to not integrate with Apple Health.

Apple’s fitness-focused platform got the could shoulder from Fitbit, with the firm’s CEO saying it wanted to work on ‘other exciting projects.’

The Juniper Research report states “Fitbit will remain the leading player for fitness tracking.”

The caveat, however, read as follows: “Their decision not to integrate with Apple Health may harm their market share in the short term.”

It’s unsurprising that Fitbit will lose out on a chunk of sales following its untimely departure from the Apple store, but the firm will likely be glad its tipped to stick with the top spot for fitness trackers.

Juniper Research also revealed that fitness devices would remain the dominant wearable category until 2018, at which point there will be an estimated 70 million devices in use circulation.

Currently there are just 19 million devices in use, so that’s a pretty big leap in just three years – good news for Apple and Fitbit alike

The research firm also predicts two distinct fitness tracker categories will emerge – low budget trackers, and more complex, price variants. The latter is tipped to take smartwatches head-on, putting Fitbit and Apple at loggerheads once again.

The Apple Watch is due to land on store shelves early next year, marking the Cupertino company’s first foray into wearable tech.

Fitbit, meanwhile, has a raft of body-borne gadgets on offer, including the Fitbit Flex, Fitbit Ultra, and Fitbit Surge.

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