Michal Marek Nike CEO Mark Parker sat down for a discussion with Bloomberg magazine's Stephanie Ruhle and spoke publicly about Nike's product strategy, among other things. During the 13-minute interview, Parker said he was optimistic about his company, Apple and wearables. He also indicated that the two companies will continue to cooperate on the development of devices from this segment.
In the past, Nike ended the development of its FuelBand fitness bracelet, also because the mainstays of the team that collaborated on this bracelet moved to Cupertino to participate in the development of the Apple Watch. However, according to Parker, Nike, in cooperation with Apple, has much more opportunities to apply themselves in the segment and achieve something big than the companies would have if each worked individually.
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Parker then shared that there is indeed a plan to create such a "wearable" product that will expand the user base of the Nike+ app from 25 million to hundreds of millions. However, it is not entirely clear how exactly they want to achieve such success at Nike.
Indeed, Parker did not confirm any direct collaboration between Apple and Nike on hardware. Additionally, device sales per se are unlikely to be key for the company. Nike wants to achieve, above all, the expansion of its fitness application Nike+, and that is exactly what a close relationship with Apple and an as yet unspecified type of cooperation on a new device would help.
Nike and Apple have been working together in the fitness segment for quite some time, and the Nike+ app has always been an integral part of iPod nano and touch. In addition, Apple is also promoting this application on iPhones, and Nike+ will also have its place in the upcoming Apple Watch.
When Parker was asked in an interview what he thinks wearables should look like in the future, Parker replied that they should be less noticeable, more integrated, more stylish and have more functionality.
It's a shame that even with 25 million users, it's a problem to get to the web version of their portal :(. Otherwise, I wouldn't recommend this application to anyone for running, but it's true that I haven't tried any other.
I use the nike app, I also have a nike watch and it's great. The nike portal is not a problem, it is always available.
2Roman: well, really no... sometimes it logs in for a long time :o/ And anyway, I tried Runtastic, Runmeter, etc., so I stayed with Nike Running, but they could update it... from the IOS 8 version, it crashes when selecting music, see comments in the App Store. "Too" Roman :o)
In fact, I have to say that despite my fandom of new technologies, I still don't see a meaningful use in watches. But a bracelet that would monitor bodily functions and, in cooperation with a mobile phone, could display what I need, so that's different. It makes me all the more sad that the companies that develop bracelets are now, in my opinion, simply waiting to see where the entire segment will move after the launch of the Apple Watch.