Reviewing the Twitter feed for the Nike support team, it’s clear that users are dissatisfied with frequent “unplanned maintenance windows” and functionality impairments requiring “tweaks” to user accounts by Nike support personnel. That seems like a ton of customer connection, and the customers haven’t remained quiet about their disappointment with Nike’s slow pace of innovation since the original product launch.Īfter announcing the termination of the FuelBand, then-Chief Digital Officer Chris Satchell foreshadowed, “Never take things away from consumers” - they don’t like it, and they’ll let you know about it. Though Nike won’t release figures for sales of the device, it’s estimated that double-digit millions of everyday athletes measure their activity with Nike’s proprietary algorithm of disputed accuracy. Since its introduction, Nike has made it clear that it created the FuelBand, and Nike Fuel, to generate connection with customers. All that remained was for the faithful to wait for Nike to release a Fuel application for Apple’s newest creation. Nike was headed for physical integration with multiple hardware devices - most notably the Apple Watch. The Apple Watch was soon announced, Nike released its Move application to run on the iPhone, obviating the need for a physical band, and the path forward seemed clear. Nike cut its 70-person team of designers and engineers, most of whom were subsequently scooped up by Apple in a move that seemed - given the companies’ perceived symbiotic relationship - well-orchestrated, to say the least. Nike famously discontinued the device in April of 2014, barely two years after its launch. Since that ballyhooed product int roduction, the FuelBand has been the subject of a great deal of criticism, including a collective, industry-wide yawn at their second version, the Nike FuelBand SE. Before FitBit, Jawbone, or any of the countless other devices now competing for wrist space real estate, the FuelBand was the device that made fitness cool, and it jumpstarted the wearable device industry. When the Nike+ FuelBand was introduced in February of 2012, it was discussed using the same adjectives as the original iPhone - game changing, sleek, and futuristic - the FuelBand shook up an industry.

Nike fit band app