Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has been a tough reviewer of the software giant’s various hardware efforts, cutting back on phones in particular. Now it appears that Microsoft will be curtailing another device: its Band line of fitness trackers.
The company has no plans this year to upgrade the Band portfolio—last refreshed in October 2015—and it might even be phasing out the device, ZDNet reported on Wednesday, citing anonymous sources. Microsoft has also disbanded a group that was working on making the Band run Windows 10.
The Band, first introduced in 2014, has never been a hit. Fitbit (FIT) is by far the leader in fitness trackers and smart wearable devices, followed by Apple, Xiaomi, and Garmin (GRMN), according to rankings from International Data Corp. Bands have suffered from uneven manufacturing quality, and Microsoft cut the price of the Band 2 to $175 recently after it had started at $250 back in October.
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But that doesn’t mean Microsoft is abandoning the fitness tracking market altogether. It’s Microsoft Health service, built on its Azure cloud platform, can compile health and fitness information from a variety of devices. It works via an app on Apple iPhones and Google’s Android phones (GOOG).
Microsoft (MSFT) said the health platform was its priority going forward.
“We continue to invest and innovate in the Microsoft Health platform, which is open to all hardware and apps partners across Windows, iOS, and Android devices,” a spokesman said in a statement to Coins2Day. “We also continue to sell Microsoft Band 2 and remain deeply committed to supporting our customers and exploring the wearables space.”
Meanwhile, competitors are continuing to press forward with new hardware. Apple (AAPL) last week unveiled its updated smartwatch, dubbed the Apple Watch Series 2. Last month, FitBit announced two new trackers, a watch-like model called the Charge 2 and a smaller, waterproof tracker called the Flex 2.
Nadella has said the company will focus on hardware only when it can differentiate its offering from competitors. Cloud software, by contrast, has been his main focus for future growth.
