Nike CEO discusses a possible partnership with Apple
Back in April, Nike announced plans to halt development of wearable fitness-related hardware and focus instead on software. Since then, rumors have suggested that some sort of Apple-Nike partnership was in the works as it relates to the Apple Watch, although no official announcement was ever made.
Nike CEO Mark Parker was asked about Apple and wearable devices during a recent discussion with Bloomberg’s Stephanie Ruhle.
Saying that Nike wasn’t ready to abandon the wearable fitness market completely, Parker explained “I think it’s going to be a big part of the future, absolutely.” He added “I think the form it takes is critical. You can go from the very geeky kind of wearables today – we’ve all seen some of those – to what I think you’ll see in the future, things that are more stealth, more integrated, more stylish and more functional, yes.”
Parker noted Nike’s long history of working with Apple, saying:
Technologically we can do things together that we couldn’t do independently. So yeah, that’s part of our plan, to expand the whole digital frontier in terms of wearables, and go from what we say is tens of millions of users – right now there’s 25 million Nike+ users – to hundreds of millions.
I wouldn’t be all that surprised to see a Nike-branded Apple Watch in the future. In fact, it’s possible that the entire Apple Watch Sports line will be co-branded by Nike.
The Apple Watch should arrive in stores in early 2015.
See also: Microsoft reportedly set to launch long-rumored wearable device in ‘next few weeks,’ Apple confirms its WatchKit SDK is set to reach developers in November, and The Wellograph smart watch review.
Via: The Guardian