Apple has started stripping wearable fitness products from their stores with sales staff told that in the future they will have to sell the features of the new Apple watch.
The big beneficiary of the move are the likes of JB Hi Fi, Harvey Norman and stores already selling products from Jawbone and Fitbit.
Analysts claim that the current range of fitness products have better chance of success than the new Apple watch which has limited battery life when compared to the current range of fitness products sold in Australian stores.
The stripping of competitive products to the new Apple watch follows this weeks “Spring Forward” full reveal for Apple’s watch, other fitness-oriented wearables have been struck from the inventory of both the Apple online store, as well as retail stores.
Heart rate monitors such as the Tickr are still available, but for how long remains uncertain. Liz Dickinson, MIO CEO was reportedly told that the Fuse and other similar products would be removed from sale, and she received this notification “months ago.”
Dickinson wasn’t specifically told the Apple Watch was the impetus for the removal, but the inference is clear. She said of the removal that “they said they brought in a new executive in the marketing area who wanted to rework branding for the stores, and to make the Apple brand more front and centre and clean up and minimize the number of accessories.”
