It looks like the FuelBand is no more as the brand has decided to slash its tracker device from its product line.
In a wearable tech announcement that took many completely by surprise, it looks as though Nike will be cutting back jobs, and at the same time, it is getting rid of its FuelBand fitness tracker device while it’s at it.
There has yet to be official confirmation of this news from the company, itself, but it is being taken seriously
Reports are breaking out throughout the web that have declared that Nike is out of the wearable tech devices game, and that it will be shifting its focus in a different direction. Moreover, the company allegedly let most of its engineering team go, only a few days ago. These would be the individuals who were behind the development and creation of the FuelBand tracker.
The cancellation of the FuelBand wearable tech is expected to be confirmed at any moment.
According to a source that was quoted on CNET, among the 70 people who worked in the hardware team at Nike, 55 have been told that they are no longer employed with the company. The hardware team is an element of the company’s Digital Sport division, which currently consists of approximately two hundred employees.
While some of the workers are said to still have jobs with Nike until sometime in May, there are others who have allegedly been recruited into other company divisions. However, the numbers and details regarding those claims have yet to be released by anyone with verifiable knowledge of the company’s business. The Digital Tech workers who are behind the web software at Nike will not be impacted by the changes at the company.
Brian Strong, a Nike spokesperson released only general statements when he was asked for a comment on the rumors that are circulating about the FuelBand’s demise and about the end of the jobs of those who were associated with it. He expressed in an email that “As our Digital Sport priorities evolve, we expect to make changes within the team, and there will be a small number of layoffs. We do not comment on individual employment matters.”
