Fitbit to unveil new products by year's end
CEO James Parks says there will be more new products for the holiday season "than we've ever had before."
Fitbit is aiming to launch new products in time for the holiday season.
Fitbit is prepping to launch some new products before the year comes to a close.
During a conference call on Tuesday to discuss the company's second-quarter earnings, CEO James Park said "we have additional new products to come this year," MarketWatch reported on Wednesday. "Fitbit will have more new products for consumers to choose from for this year's holiday season than we've ever had before," Park added.
Once considered niche products, fitness bands such as those created by Fitbit, Garmin and others have increased in popularity. They're not crammed with the array of features found in smartwatches but instead offer a simplicity and ease of use that have caught on with consumers.
Exactly what Fitbit has in mind for this year is unclear. Prior to the conference call, Chief Financial Officer Bill Zerella told MarketWatch that the holiday offerings would be "upgrades of existing products, which actually will give us the strongest lineup of new and compelling devices."
Fitbit further tried to clarify what's in store in a follow-up statement sent to MarketWatch: "Regardless of the language used to describe new products, the products that we are introducing later this year are not just software upgrades, but will have exciting new features and designs."
That still leaves consumers guessing as to what products are due up. The company currently offers a healthy lineup of fitness trackers that includes the Surge, the Charge HR, the Flex, the Alta and the Blaze. Among these, the Blaze treads into smartwatch territory as it packs in such features as a color touch screen, a range of clock faces, calendar notifications and phone call and text alerts. The Alta and the Blaze are new products, having been introduced this year.
Beyond launching any new products or upgrades to existing ones, the company is spending "substantial" research and development on every product it sells, Park said, according to the Verge. That means consumers can expect some type of refresh to all of its existing products.
Fitbit did not immediately respond to CNET's request for comment.