Leader in wearable fitness tracking, Fitbit filed for an IPO on Thursday last week with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company would be trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker ‘FIT’ and aims to raise $100 million through the IPO. In this article we bring you the detailed analysis of wearable devices market, information about Fitbit and its comparison with Apple Watch and all the facts that you need to know about the Fitbit IPO.
The Wearable Devices Market
Wearable devices, which track fitness and well-being, is a fast growing market worldwide. According to a report published by IDC on 30th March 2015, wearable device vendors are expected to sell 45.7 million units in 2015 up 133.4% from the 19.6 million units shipped in 2014. The report also suggests that by 2019, companies will sell 126.1 million units, resulting in a 5 year compounded annual growth rate of 45%.
The launch of Apple Watch this year is seen as a major push towards growth of this market. Apple is expected to raise the bar for all players in the industry.
According to data published by CSSInsight, the adoption of wearable devices has been the fastest in the North American Markets largely because of a number of device manufacturing companies being based out of the USA and also because consumers in the USA are usually quick adopters of latest technology. North American market currently accounts for 40% of the total market for wearable devices. In 2016, Western Europe is expected to buy more wearable devices than North America. Adoption in emerging markets is expected to be slower with the devices being adopted by tech – savvy and affluent users.
About FitBit
Fitbit was started by James Park and Eric Friedman in 2007. The company is headquartered in San Fransisco, California, United States. The company produces health and fitness devices meant to be wore or strapped to the body to keep a track of steps and distance as well as calories burned and monitor activity intensity such as for sleep and workouts. Fitbit also makes companion software for Smartphone and a Web application which allows you to sync your Fitbit tracker and tie everything to your Fitbit account. This also means you can display stats, get insights and training tips using both web and mobile app.
According to data from Bloomberg,Fitbit sold 10,904,000 devices in 2014. It is said that the company is currently quite profitable and is growing at a fast pace.
Fitbits are now sold in 45,000 stores in 54 countries.Products offered by Fitbit fall in the range of $59 to $250. The company supports 150 different mobile devices including iOS, Android and Windows OS.
Apple Watch is being looked at as the main competitor of Fitbit. The emergence of Apple Watch in the wearables markets is expected to increase consumer awareness in the category and lift the playing field for all the other wearable device makers in the industry. The entry of Apple in wearable devices market is expected to benefit the entire market segment.
It is being said that price will play a huge role for users choosing between Fitbit and Apple Watch. Apple products start at $350. Products offered by Fitbit fall in the range of $59 to $250.Apple battery is known to last for a day whereas Fitbit has a battery life of an average of 3 days.Fitbit supports 150 different mobile devices including iOS, Android and Windows OS.Apple Watch is restricted to iOS.In terms of features, Apple Watch offers much more features than Fitbit products.In terms of design and display, Apple Watch scores way beyond Fitbit.
Mother’s day Fitbit commercial
The IPO
The timing for FitBit IPO could not have been better. At times when Apple Watch has entered the market and is expected to give a big competition to Fitbit, having all the extra cash will allow Fitbit to compete better. Other big players such as Google and Microsoft have also entered the wearables market. Here are some facts about Fitbit IPO.
- The company would be trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker FIT and aims to raise $100 million through the IPO.
- FitBit earned $745.4 million in revenue last year, up from $271.1 million in 2013.
- The fitness tracking giant revealed its earnings to be $131.8 million profit last year.
- The company valued itself at roughly $1.2 billion in March.
- Since its inception in 2007, Fitbit has sold roughly 20.8 million devices total, with 10.9 million of them sold last year.
- For the most recent 12 months through March, FitBit is said to have a market share of 74% of the wearables market. The company was said to have a share of 62%, a year before that.
- The company has received a funding of $83.5 million from, Foundry Group, Felicis Ventures, True Ventures, SoftBank Capital, SoftTech VC, Sapphire Ventures and Qualcomm Ventures in five rounds of investment.
- The lead underwriters list includes Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank and Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
- Fitbit’s competition with Apple Watch is being cited as one of the biggest risks to the company.
With everything falling in place, Fitbit has jumped on bandwagon to be the first wearable tech-focused company to go public.
