Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) announced this week the Amazon Halo, a portable fitness and health device. The screenless device is a cheap entry into the busy field of smartwatch and tracker.
What investors need to know: The launch of the Halo puts Amazon in competition with other value and smartwatch companies as well Call (NASDAQ: AAPL), Fitbit (NYSE: FIT) en Garmin (NASDAQ: GRMN).
The Amazon Halo is available for pre-order for $ 64.99, saving the final price point of $ 99.99. This award includes six months of a monthly Halo membership. The membership will automatically renew for a price of $ 3.99 per month.
Halo will assign a points system based on activities instead of just laying steps and calories burned, with input from the American Heart Association. The Amazon Halo will be the first to offer a tone feature, tracking mood and attitude via two microphones. The Halo can also calculate body fat percentage.
Why it’s important: Fitbit announced on Wednesday a new smartwatch that is the first to offer stress testing.
The busy tracker and smartwatch field continues to see a battle for the first time to mark for every feature. The Halo will be more of a threat to Fitbit and Garmin’s low-cost trackers. Amazon will try to appeal to new customers on fitness and health trackers and its large Prime membership base.
A partnership with Weight Watchers (NASDAQ: WW) gives customers the opportunity to link their accounts. Activity on the Halo translates to FitPoints via Weight Watchers. Weight Watchers, which has five million members, will run a promotional offer for users to get a free Halo.
What follows: The Amazon Halo can be pre-ordered. The Fitbit Sense will be released in September.
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