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Fitbit: Apple Takes 'Wrong' Approach to Wearables

The popular fitness tracker maker prefers to start small and add features with each new release.

By Stephanie Mlot
May 3, 2016
Fitbit Blaze

Though Fitbit waded into the smartwatch space earlier this year with the Blaze ($237.90 at Amazon) , the firm is taking a different approach than its top rival in the space: Apple. 

In a recent interview with the New York Times, Fitbit CEO James Park argued that Apple has tackled the wearables market in the "wrong way."

"We look at it from a consumer point of view," Park said of his company's strategy. Apple Watch ($300.00 at eBay)  "is a computing platform, but that's really the wrong way to approach this category from the very beginning."

Rather than releasing a device chock-full of bells and whistles, for example, Fitbit starts simple and adds features over time, he said. 

Still, being compared to Cupertino "does not bother me at all," he insisted.

Fitbit declined to comment on the report. Apple, meanwhile, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

According to recent data from IDC, Fitbit ended 2015 as the "undisputed worldwide leader of wearable devices," with 29.5 percent market share during the fourth quarter. Apple came in second with 15 percent market share, but its shipment volumes for the period "grew only slightly" from the previous quarter.

Apple Watch debuted about a year ago, and in that time, Cupertino has sold approximately 12 million smartwatches, according to the Wall Street Journal.

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And while that's double the number of iPhones Apple sold in the smartphone's first year on the market, anything short of a blowout is often viewed as disappointing when it comes to Apple, the Journal notes.

"Perhaps the biggest challenge is the Watch's lack of a defining purpose," according to the paper.

Editor's Note: This story was updated on May 4 with a response from Fitbit.

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About Stephanie Mlot

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Stephanie Mlot

B.A. in Journalism & Public Relations with minor in Communications Media from Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP)

Reporter at The Frederick News-Post (2008-2012)

Reporter for PCMag and Geek.com (RIP) (2012-present)

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