Earlier this week, Fitbit Inc. (NYSE: FIT) announced three new consumer devices. The company continues to launch into the healthcare space with its new offerings.
What happened: The Fitbit Sense highlights the new offerings. This new watch enhances many offerings already included on Fitbit watches, but the big difference maker is an EDA sensor. This will be the first smartwatch on the market that can see the stress level of users. The Sense will use a built-in electrodermal activity sensor that can tell when a user is sweating even before they realize it.
The watch will be available in September for $ 329.
Fitbit Premium members receive detailed breakdowns of stress scores. The company’s other two offerings are the Versa 3 ($ 229) with improved heart rate, and Inspire 2 ($ 99), a pure fitness tracker.
Why it’s important: The Fitbit Sense points to the pressure of the company in healthcare.
“I think one of the important things to take away from our fall launch is that it really underscores our ongoing evolution from a pure fitness tracking company to a healthcare company,” CEO James Park told Yahoo Finance.
Park also mentioned that there has been a greater importance for stress management since the pandemic. Fitbit also tests its effectiveness in tracking COVID-19 symptoms in users.
The Fitbit Sense offers a distinctive feature from other smartwatches on the market, something that can help the company to compete against Call (NASDAQ: AAPL). The watch will also include enhanced heart rate monitoring and an ECG app. Apple’s watches have seen a lot of positive press by detecting heart conditions for their customers.
The new watch should also increase the average selling price and paid subscribers for Fitbit Premium.
The company recently announced that it has hit 500,000 Fitbit Premium members, who pay $ 9.99 a month or $ 79.99 a year. Revenue from the second quarter fell, but the bright spot was the average selling price which rose 16% to $ 100.
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