Under Armour is an American company that manufactures footwear, sports, and casual apparel. The Baltimore based company had ambitions to become a major player in the Digital Health Industry, having already released the Under Armour Band, the HealthBox, and the Gemini 2 RE. Now they have announced that they will stop making any more hardware.
The Reason
But with an evolving market, things have changed. People are now fleeing stores for online shopping, and with an increase in the demand for brands to offer fashion as well as workout clothes, similar companies are facing a sales dip in non-branded stores.
The company has seen its earnings slashed in half according to their third-quarter results. the company’s quarterly sales fell for the first time since the company went public in 2005, dropping 4 percent to just over $1.4 billion. The company’s shares have plunged to an all-time low of $11.61 a share.
CEO Kevin Plank says the company was “a bit braggish” about past success, and that its problems are a result of troubles in its US market as well as complications from its tremendous growth in recent years.
The company has announced that they will stop making fitness devices, However, this does not mark their exit from the Industry. They are planning to focus more on its software, apps that can be put onto devices like the Gear Sport, Apple Watch and much more. The company will still sell its health band, scale and heart rate devices for the rest of the year. The company has now listed them at a discount up to 66% on their website.
Under Armour is not alone?
Under Armour is not alone in its troubles, Nike is also not completely out of troubles. Nike has also canceled their FuelBand tracker, in order to focus on their software platform, because of this, and their partnership with Apple, Apple Watch Nike+ edition was released.
Adidas has also stepped into the software game, in on Runtastic and partnering with Fitbit for the Ionic Adidas edition. However, Adidas is still in the wearable industry with the Chameleon fitness tracker.
Even though Under Armour’s decision to get out of the fitness industry is sad, this might be the best for the company and for users. Focusing on development and improving its software platform is good for everyone in the long term.
