As Apple prepares to ship its own wearable – the Apple Watch on April 24 , the company started to clear out competition by removing numerous competing bands that it used to retail on its stores.
Actually, the company has been slowly pulling out fitness trackers from its stores since last April, like the Fitbit. And as of this year, a report says that both the popular activity-tracking wristbands like Jawbone Up and the Nike+ FuelBand have been added to the cleared list. The cleanup started in stores in San Francisco, Palo Alto, Los Angeles and New York, while the Mio – a heart rate-tracking device worn on the wrist can now only be purchased via Apple’s online store.
Apple has not yet given its official comment regarding the ‘clearing competition’ issue, instead it noted that the company regularly evaluates and makes changes to its merchandising lineup.
The company also did the same strategy last year for the launching of its own headphones – the Beats which was able to acquire at least $3 billion. Apple kicked Bose headphones from its retail stores leaving the other competing headphone brands likehigh-end models from Sennheiser, Bowers & Wilkins and Marshall available in its Apple’s online store.
On the other hand, Cupertino is reportedly going to ship 3 million units of Apple Watch for its an initial batch. Apple hyped its Apple Watch as a personal fitness trainer, capable of tracking steps and other metrics, such as heart rate.
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