Product announcements provide a time for companies to release their new products into the wild, with companies hoping for the best. Usually, it's hard to tell until holiday seasons like Thanksgiving (Black Friday) or Christmas, when consumers have money for shopping and decide to be a bit generous over the holidays. What happens, though, when you decide to announce a smartwatch and release it into the wild after the holidays are over?
Fitbit is now able to answer this question, with the company reporting that its brand new Fitbit Blaze smartwatch and Alta fitness band have both sold 1 million copies each in their first month on the market.
The Fitbit Blaze is a smartwatch aimed at the more fitness-enthusiastic among consumers, those who'd like a smartwatch but aren't interested in all that smartwatches can do -- just keeping tabs on their fitness activity. The fitness watch is currently available at Verizon Wireless. The Fitbit Alta is one of the first fitness bands on the market to exude premium design -- with its stylish and sleek look that you can match up with your apparel, even if you're going out on the town. The Fitbit Alta maintains thinness and lightness, two qualities of a wrist wearable that some find more appealing than the modestly capable Apple Watch or the full-blown capabilities of Samsung's Gear S2.
Fitbit has been feeling the heat from companies such as Apple with its Apple Watch, and Samsung, who's been in the smartwatch game for over two years and produced a few generations of smartwatches before Apple entered the race a year ago. Fitbit remains one of the giants in this business, but it's commitment to produce fitness devices that don't do more than niche consumers want may be just the thing to hold off Apple and Samsung with regard to its own customer base.
The Fitbit Blaze will run at $199.99 while the Fitbit Alta runs at around $130.
