Science/Tech

Apple Watch Gains Market Share, Fitbit Shares Fall 18%

By Kanika Gupta | Update Date: Jan 08, 2016 09:14 AM EST

The popular fitness tracker device, Fitbit is suffering at the hands of Apple Watch. On Tuesday, the shares of the popular device declined by 18% that worried the investors about its ability to contend with Apple as well as other players in the market. The sudden drop in the shares comes at a time when the company was looking forward to release some of its products in the Consumer Electronics Show to be held in Las Vegas next week. Just recently, Fitbit revealed their new product, Fitbit Blaze, a fitness watch available for $200 that will begin sales in March. Priced cheaper than the Apple Watch, $350 and above, there are other variants whose costs depend on style and features, reported New York Times.

According to New York Times, Fitbit displayed a stable IPO that valued the company at $4.1 billion in its debut. Its stock was trading at $52 per share all summer but closed at $24.30 on Tuesday. Apple's reach expanding in the market has been an obvious threat to not just Fitbit but many other companies. As per the research firm, International Data Corporation, Fitbit's shares slipped 22% in the third quarter of 2015 for its wearable technology. However, Apple that came into the market only in the second quarter of 2015 has already increased its market share by 18.6% by Q3.

Robert Peck, analyst at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, said that there are several factors responsible for this decline, including the new announcements made by the competitors and a lukewarm reaction to the new product launched by Fitbit, Fitbit Blaze, that could have dampened the market's reaction. "Over $1 billion of market cap was reduced based on these concerns, which we think is an overreaction," Mr. Peck said. Fitbit is also at the brink of many patent disputes with its competitors, according to Financial Review

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