Could Nike provide software for the iWatch?
Nike CEO Mark Parker has added to speculation that Nike will partner with Apple on the heavily rumoured iWatch, stating he is “excited about what’s to come” from the two companies’ partnership.
With Nike in recent weeks having confirmed that it is to disband its hardware team responsible for the Nike FuelBand fitness tracker, speculation has mounted over the sportswear giant joining forces with Apple to provide fitness software for the widely expected Apple iWatch smartwatch.
Now, Nike’s CEO has offered further hints that the two companies are cooking up a wearable device to take on the likes of the Samsung Gear Fit and Fitbit Flex.
Questioned on a potential collaborative device between Nike and Apple – the iWatch – Parker stated: “There has been a lot of speculation, which I understand. I will just say that the relationship between Nike and Apple will continue and I am personally, as we all are at Nike, very excited about what’s to come.”
Although remaining cagey on the topic, he added: “We have partners who we work with and obviously the most visible partner is Apple. We have been working with them for a long time and we’re excited to see where that relationship goes going forward.”
Despite having brought the FuelBand programme to an end, Parker has insisted that Nike is far from finished in the wearables and ‘digital sports’ race.
“Digital sport is incredibly important to us,” the Nike CEO told CNBC news in the US. “We think it is going to be a bigger and bigger factor in terms of the experience consumers have with the products that we create.”
He added: “You’re going to see digital be more and more integrated into other products that we have.
“We are focussing more on the software side of the experience. I do think we will be part of wearables going forward, it will integrated into other products that we create and then we will look at expanding our partnerships to create more reach for Nike Fuel and the Fuel system.
“You are going to see us continue to commit to this area and focus on expanding our reach. Today we have about 30 million FuelBand users, we’re hoping to push that to over 100 million.”
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