Wearable fitness device maker Fitbit files for IPO
Planning to list its shares under the stock ticker symbol "FIT," the company hopes to raise up to $100 million according to the filing – a placeholder amount that will likely change based on investor demand. The announcement comes shortly after a major potential competitive product – the Apple Watch – has hit the market.
Fitbit currently offers seven devices, six of which are wearable products aimed at tracking and monitoring various activities, including heart rate in the higher-end devices. Also offered is a Wi-Fi smart scale that tracks weight, lean mass, percentage body fat, and BMI.
The company is said to have sold over 10 million units last year and reportedly generated $336.8 million in revenue with $48 million in income in the first quarter of 2015. As of the first quarter of 2015, the company reported 9.5 million active users.
According to market research firm NPD Group, Fitbit’s activity trackers recently accounted for over 70% of the fitness tracker market, dominating the market with rival Jawbone. This follows the apparent exit of Nike – with its Jawbone device – from the digital fitness hardware market.
A recent report by Juniper Research – Smart Health & Fitness Wearables: Device Strategies, Trends & Forecasts 2014-2019 – forecasts that fitness wearables in use will almost triple by 2018, to over 70 million devices. The report also expects Fitbit to remain the leading player for fitness tracking.
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