Fitbit's latest flagship smartwatch, Fitbit Blaze, is doing so well, it beat the Apple Watch as the No. 1 device in the wearable category in Amazon's online store. With the company exceeding expectations and proving critics wrong, Fitbit CEO James Park said that rivals such as the Apple Watch simply try to do too many things, rather than focus on one feature that would endear the product to customers.
"I think it's a great product and Apple's a great company, but it's a product that probably does too much. Really our research has shown that people who search for an interest in the Apple Watch do not overlap with people who search for and are interested in Fitbit," Park said.
"I think the biggest problem with the category today is they do so many things and it hasn't been really clearly communicated to people why they should need one of these devices," he added.
Fitbit is enjoying a resurgence of popularity lately, brought upon by the impressive sales figures of its latest devices, the $200 Fitbit Blaze and the $130 Fitbit Alta. Though the devices invited a number of skeptics when they were announced, the company beat expectations by selling 1 million units within the first month of launch.
Part of the reason behind the devices' success is the fact that they are straightforward smartwatches which feature a very specific selling point. In the case of Fitbit, their watches are focused on health-related features. Thus, anyone purchasing a Fitbit device most probably does so in order to take advantage of its fitness features.
For Park, health and fitness have always been the focal point of the company. Indeed, since the first Fitbit was offered back in 2007, the company has focused its efforts in creating devices that ultimately target the health and fitness of its users.
"We've known that pretty much from day one of the company that [fitness] was really the killer app for our devices, and for nine years we've invested heavily in making Fitbit almost the Kleenex of the category," Park said.
Considering the company's sales figures, the CEO does have a very good point. After all, within the wearable technology market, Fitbit commands an impressive 30 percent market share, dominating its rivals.
However, the smartwatch market has never really taken off, with much of the devices offered only being embraced by a very small fraction of consumers. Nevertheless, considering the company and its performance so far, it does seem like Fitbit has things under control.
