Fitbit Pivots To Subscription, Voice Services

Fitbit, in a shift away from hardware and toward content, has introduced a $10 monthly premium subscription service, according to a report.

The announcement was made at an event this week in Manhattan, where the company touted its services and software. It also discussed two new hardware products: the Versa 2 smartwatch and the Aria Air scale.

Fitbit is facing increasing competition in the wearables space from Chinese companies like Xiaomi, which offers cheaper alternatives, and Apple, which dominates the high end of the market with its smartwatch.

If customers don’t want to pay for the service on a monthly basis, they can purchase a year’s subscription for $80. The company has also partnered with some healthcare operations on the venture.

Users will get what the company is calling “custom insights” into their health, including in-depth information beyond what is offered to free users. They will also have access to nine guided health and fitness programs, such as Intro to Healthy Habits, Get More Zzz’s, Habits for Restful Sleep, Get Active, Beginner Running, Run Training, Understand Calories, Kick Your Sugar Habit and Kick Your Salt Habit, per the report.

“The quick pitch is that it’s a one-stop shop that gives you all of what you really need to eat better, become more active, sleep better,” said CEO and Co-founder James Park. “And it’s a service that’s tightly integrated with your Fitbit device. And so with a user base of over 27 million active users, definitely for our user base, it’s a really compelling solution.”

The company is said to be offering an improved version of the company’s Sleep Score offering, as well as video and audio workouts and video game-like training content.

“A lot of the value that we’re trying to provide as well is that the programs provide and adapt dynamically without you having to really do anything,” Park said. “And we’re trying to provide more nudges and notifications that remind you, throughout the course of the day or through your program, what things you should be doing.”