Apple’s decision to enter the digital health market isn’t something everyone likes. Companies making services that are similar to the Cupertino company’s Health app are now in problem explaining their shareholders how can they compete with the giant of Apple’s size.
Most fitness tracker makers decided to integrate with Apple’s HealthKit platform, but not Fitbit. The market-leading player argues that this is still a nascent platform and would rather wait to see where it goes from here. Here’s what they said:
We do not currently have plans to integrate with HealthKit. It is an interesting new platform and we will watch as it matures, looking for opportunities to improve the Fitbit experience. At the moment, we’re working on other exciting projects that we think will be valuable to users.
iPhone users who also happen to own one of Fitbit’s bands obviously dislike the argument and have responded furiously, prompting the company to say it will reconsider its decision.
iPhone owning Fitbit users want to see their Fitbit data integrated with HealthKit.Fitbit has lot to lose with HealthKit integration. It has developed its own platform to gather the user health data, and it doesn’t want to simply give away that information to Apple. On the other hand, they have little to no choice as the lack of HealthKit integration could only push a number of users to avoid buying Fitbit products in the future. That could happen anyway with some of those users opting for the upcoming Apple Watch, instead.
So yes, we do expect to see Fitbit joining the likes of Jawbone and integrate with HealthKit. However, this move could also endanger Fitbit’s very existence, or at very least initiate the industry consolidation. We’ll see how that goes…
[Via: Mashable]