By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    improving patient experience
    6 Ways to Improve Patient Satisfaction Within Hospitals
    December 1, 2021
    degree for healthcare job
    What Are The Health Benefits Of Having A Degree?
    March 9, 2022
    custom software development is changing healthcare
    Digital Customer Journey Mapping and its Importance for Healthcare
    July 21, 2022
    Latest News
    Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
    May 16, 2025
    Learn how to Renew your Medical Card in West Virginia
    May 16, 2025
    Choosing the Right Supplement Manufacturer for Your Brand
    May 1, 2025
    Engineering Temporary Hospitals for Extreme Weather
    April 24, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    Can Thinking Younger Make You Live Longer?
    April 20, 2011
    Image
    Obesity’s Outlook Unchanged
    June 13, 2011
    When It’s An Emergency Elderly Not Treated As Well in Hospitals
    July 16, 2011
    Latest News
    Building Smarter Care Teams: Aligning Roles, Structure, and Clinical Expertise
    May 18, 2025
    The Critical Role of Healthcare in Personal Injury Recovery: A Comprehensive Guide for Victims
    May 14, 2025
    The Backbone of Successful Trials: Clinical Data Management
    April 28, 2025
    Advancing Your Healthcare Career through Education and Specialization
    April 16, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Data, Sensors and Shoes: Conjecture Behind Nike’s Rumored Departure from Wearable Devices
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > eHealth > Mobile Health > Data, Sensors and Shoes: Conjecture Behind Nike’s Rumored Departure from Wearable Devices
BusinesseHealthMobile HealthNewsTechnology

Data, Sensors and Shoes: Conjecture Behind Nike’s Rumored Departure from Wearable Devices

Chris Hoffmann
Last updated: April 25, 2014 8:00 am
Chris Hoffmann
Share
4 Min Read
SHARE

Anyone over 40 years old remembers the 1986 Nike television ad featuring Michael Jordan and Spike Lee, with Jordan performing feats of basketball prowess wearing his signature Air Jordans and inspiring awe from Lee, who verbalized “it’s gotta be the shoes” – advertising lore was born on the back of the Nike + Michael Jordan affiliation.

Anyone over 40 years old remembers the 1986 Nike television ad featuring Michael Jordan and Spike Lee, with Jordan performing feats of basketball prowess wearing his signature Air Jordans and inspiring awe from Lee, who verbalized “it’s gotta be the shoes” – advertising lore was born on the back of the Nike + Michael Jordan affiliation.

(Source: Deviantart)

Almost 30 years later, we’re borrowing that phrase to inject some humor into the recent news of Nike walking away from its Fuelband product line.  We may not know the driver behind this move, but speculate that it may either be the realization that the wearable fitness sensor wasn’t driving sneaker sales, or Nike grasping the challenges of selling an electronic device. When chatting about the Nike rumor yesterday with Rob McCray at the Wireless-Life Sciences Alliance, he opined “building devices is a lot harder than making shoes”.

Here are a few additional thoughts.

More Read

mesothelioma
New Protein Could Aid in Therapy for Mesothelioma
Health Care’s Anti-Cash Bias
Aetna Payment Estimator Video Is a Winner
Mobile Health Around the Globe
#H2NYC Meetup: Health Tech Innovation Meetup in NYC
  • The trend that was.  In 2011 just as the Quantified Self movement was cresting, TripleTree was following over 120 activity monitoring solutions that were worn:
    • On bicep
    • On head
    • On wrist
    • In shoe
    • On chest
    • Embedded into clothing
    • Various other locations
  • Activity monitoring has become a feature.  Today, we don’t track that category as closely anymore because wearables – while still a market – have been consolidated into a small handful of players (Fitbit, Jawbone, Runkeeper, etc), and with Apple’s new iPhone M7 sensor as the latest disruption.
  • One of the consolidators.  In January of 2013, Body Media was acquired by Jawbone to fold its unique IP into an array of products and solutions.  BodyMedia was an early pioneer in on-body monitoring, and given changing dynamics in the market it could likely be one of the last such firms to find a strategic exit.
  • It’s all about software and openness.  Six months ago, MapMyFitness was acquired by UnderAmour to help that company “deliver game-changing solutions to how athletes train and perform”.  In connected health, silo is a four letter word, meaning that proprietary sensor data collected in a closed system is antithetic to how successful software platforms are gathering data, and enabling care and better communication.  In healthcare, proprietary sensor data collected in a closed system is antithetic to the successful care-centric software platforms whose openness defines their growth and success.

The punchline?  Nike has likely realized that as a shoe maker and marketer they can better serve consumers by partnering with device makers rather than competing with them. Many smart devices can do multiple tasks where Fuelband was limited to one thing, and it wasn’t a world beater. For Nike, “it’s gotta be the shoes”, and we’re predicting the Nike + Apple partnership (which was already meaningful) may become much more formidable.

Acknowledging that Nike is one of the most iconic and successful retailers in the world, it’s important to assert that any entry and exit from healthcare may not be defined by Fuelband.

TAGGED:NikeQSquantified selfwearable tech
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

Clinical Expertise
Building Smarter Care Teams: Aligning Roles, Structure, and Clinical Expertise
Health care
May 18, 2025
Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
Health
May 15, 2025
Learn how to Renew your Medical Card in West Virginia
Learn how to Renew your Medical Card in West Virginia
Health
May 15, 2025
Dr. Klaus Rentrop Shares Acute Myocardial Infarction heart treatment
Dr. Klaus Rentrop Shares Acute Myocardial Infarction
Cardiology
May 13, 2025

You Might also Like

Health IT
Medical DevicesTechnology

How to Tackle Vague Requirements in Health IT and Medical Device Software

August 22, 2014
patient loyalty
BusinessSocial Media

Six Strategies to Increase Patient Loyalty

February 8, 2016

Aging Infographic Clearly Shows Aging Trends

December 4, 2011
BusinessPublic Health

Why Our HealthCare Spending Doesn’t Make Sense

March 24, 2012
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?