Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Fitbit Files IPO

sec.gov

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 108 posts

Re: Fitbit Files IPO

#41

Post by bradgessler »

epmatsw wrote: post #3

I used to be pretty on the FitBit train, but I don't think that I'm in their camp any more. Refusing to integrate with Healthkit, purposefully building their challenges feature to reject data input through their APIs, and charging for access to raw data are enough to ensure that I'll never buy one of their products again. Kind of a shame, their hardware, dashboard, and app are all pretty great :(

It's really easy as an engineer to feel bearish about FitBit because of how shitty their acting from our viewpoint, but to people outside our community FitBit makes a statement "I care about my fitness and well-being", works on Android and iOS, has an app that's more actionable than Apple's Health app ("get off your butt and get 2000 more steps in" vs "you have 8000 steps today"), and has several price points below the $349 Apple Watch.

I too thought Fitbit was screwed when Apple announced its watch, but after seeing the prices and Apple's eye towards high-end consumers in this market, I wouldn't underestimate Fitbit as a business.

Re: Fitbit Files IPO

#42

Post by Narkov »

misteredison12 wrote: post #28
djloche wrote: post #21

2014 was an incredible year for them revenue/profit wise, and the first 3 months are already showing impressive growth. 2013 - 271M revenue, 51M loss. 2014 - 745M revenue, 131M profit. Q1 2014 - 108M revenue, 8M profit. Q1 2015 - 336M revenue, 47M profit. These are fantastic numbers - I don't blame them deciding to go public now.

The only way an IPO makes sense is if they're going to raise money to compete with the Apple Watch or to move into a completely different product category.

...or to get out.

Re: Fitbit Files IPO

#43

Post by snomad »

ucha wrote: post #37

With revenue tripling every year and projected net income around or over 200M this year, I wouldn't be surprised if Fitbit was valued at a P/E over 50. They would be worth $10+ B which is a huge surprise to say the least.

GoPro currently has a P/E of 65. (Somewhat similar in that it is a niche product focused on one activity).

Re: Fitbit Files IPO

#44

Post by Nelson69 »

bradgessler wrote: post #41
epmatsw wrote: post #3

I used to be pretty on the FitBit train, but I don't think that I'm in their camp any more. Refusing to integrate with Healthkit, purposefully building their challenges feature to reject data input through their APIs, and charging for access to raw data are enough to ensure that I'll never buy one of their products again. Kind of a shame, their hardware, dashboard, and app are all pretty great :(

It's really easy as an engineer to feel bearish about FitBit because of how shitty their acting from our viewpoint, but to people outside our community FitBit makes a statement "I care about my fitness and well-being", works on Android and iOS, has an app that's more actionable than Apple's Health app ("get off your butt and get 2000 more steps in" vs "you have 8000 steps today"), and has several price points below t…

There is something to be said about focus.

I have a surge that I was given. I also have some high end training devices I use on the bike, Polar, Suunto and Garmin. Fitbit doesn't compete with these, neither does apple watch (at least not yet.) The fitbit is easy to use, I do find myself looking at the numbers on and off during the day, maybe walking a bit more. I'm curious about the aria integration, that seems like another killer piece of the weight loss and basic fitness equation.

The geek in me would love to be able to pull my fitbit data in to Rubitrack or something else, at the same time, it's really not that kind of data. It seems like it adds data to all the places where I didn't keep it before, for good or bad. Not sure how that helps me out exactly (I put a couple hundred miles on a bike every week) but if you're trying to lose weight or just get started with some basic fitness, I could easily see it being really valuable. They have a social integration component, I might be too old or a different kind of bird but a badge for climbing flights of stairs doesn't do it for me like a top 10 in a bike race, the younger set seem to enjoy that stuff.

Seems like a really immature industry as a whole. And FWIW, Apple builds killer laptops but Dell and the others still make them too. Apple builds a great phone but there are still dozens of competitors in the market and some of them are very compelling. Apple Watch seems like a market maker more than a market killer. It is proof that the wrist watch is interesting again, I don't think they're going to put all the other watch makers out of business any time soon.

I don't know. We have a weight problem as a country, anything that helps people get out and move more and gives them some motivation and keeps them honest about it seems good to me. I wish them good luck.

Re: Fitbit Files IPO

#45

Post by click170 »

jbrooksuk wrote: post #7
epmatsw wrote: post #3

I used to be pretty on the FitBit train, but I don't think that I'm in their camp any more. Refusing to integrate with Healthkit, purposefully building their challenges feature to reject data input through their APIs, and charging for access to raw data are enough to ensure that I'll never buy one of their products again. Kind of a shame, their hardware, dashboard, and app are all pretty great :(

That's exactly why I stopped using mine. My iPhone tracks everything else really well and integrates with a fair few devices. FitBit refusing to do this means my data isn't where I want it. It's within their app and I can't get it back.

Dito on stopped using my fitbit.

And now I readily share my experience with friends and family who are usually quite surprised at how it holds your data hostage, and they're just as bothered as I am when I point out that the device is a one time purchase but the servers it reports back to require ongoing payments. All I have to do is point out that Fitbit has their health data, and that of millions of other people, and they have a need to make money.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out that your data is not safe with them.

Re: Fitbit Files IPO

#46

Post by click170 »

choppaface wrote: post #32
epmatsw wrote: post #3

I used to be pretty on the FitBit train, but I don't think that I'm in their camp any more. Refusing to integrate with Healthkit, purposefully building their challenges feature to reject data input through their APIs, and charging for access to raw data are enough to ensure that I'll never buy one of their products again. Kind of a shame, their hardware, dashboard, and app are all pretty great :(

Their customer service is pretty horrible, too. My Aria scale just would not connect to wifi. CS sent me the same troubleshooting info as listed on their site 3 times and then offered a replacement but refused to pay for shipping. In comparison, I had a MIO Fuse, which broke, and their CS not only mailed me a pre-paid label but even got me in direct email contact with one of their PMs to try to troubleshoot the issue…

I also question the quality of the software on their devices.

I had to return my first fitbit scale because my firewall blocked the first outbound request that the scale made (it was a new unidentified device on the network), which caused the scale to brick itself.

If the first registration request fails it does not appear to retry. Taking out the batteries had no effect.

I was stunned they hadn't caught this in product testing. Not that the first request could get blocked by an anal firewall but that a sporadic internet connection doesn't cause the device to brick.

Re: Fitbit Files IPO

#47

Post by detaro »

lotso wrote: post #9
djloche wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are, and it's been their policy to do so since Day 1, but they haven't enforced it widely. edit: Clearer: Apps that work with other watch platforms are now in conflict with Apple's policy of not mentioning a competing platform, because now Apple has a watch platform. It makes sense from an Android-iOS sense, because the systems aren't compatible, so no real need to mention it. But if the entire purpose of your a…

No, their policy is to reject apps that have an app store description mentioning competing platforms.

So you can integrate with other devices, as long as you don't tell your customers in your primary sales channel about it...

Re: Fitbit Files IPO

#48

Post by click170 »

MBCook wrote: post #16
hbhakhra wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Believe me, I thought the FitBit was a stupid device when I heard about it, but then I got one for free from work. Having it on your wrist all day and tracking all your activity really did make a difference for me and for my friends that have it - to the point where I convinced friends to get the FitBit. The effectiveness of the FitBit, just by my anecdote, is that it tracks all your steps, even for little things suc…

> Second, is when at the end of the day your are close to your target, its easy to convince yourself to go for a little walk to reach the target. Having an external locus of control can make a huge difference for some people when it comes to exercising more or eating better. It helped for me. > ...but the device and app work great for what they do. That was NOT my experience with the app. I think it's pathetic they d…

To be fair, they make it nearly impossible to get your data out of their servers to do anything interesting with anyway. Which is another huge failing on their part IMO.

Re: Fitbit Files IPO

#49

Post by bapbap »

click170 wrote: post #45
jbrooksuk wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's exactly why I stopped using mine. My iPhone tracks everything else really well and integrates with a fair few devices. FitBit refusing to do this means my data isn't where I want it. It's within their app and I can't get it back.

Dito on stopped using my fitbit. And now I readily share my experience with friends and family who are usually quite surprised at how it holds your data hostage, and they're just as bothered as I am when I point out that the device is a one time purchase but the servers it reports back to require ongoing payments. All I have to do is point out that Fitbit has their health data, and that of millions of other people, a…

I'm sorry if I'm misunderstanding but I don't think they charge to export your data any longer. I remember they did (I refused to pay) but I recently purchased a Charge HR and found I can export everything, going back to when I had a Flex in CSV or XLS.

Re: Fitbit Files IPO

#50

Post by imaginenore »

epmatsw wrote: post #3

I used to be pretty on the FitBit train, but I don't think that I'm in their camp any more. Refusing to integrate with Healthkit, purposefully building their challenges feature to reject data input through their APIs, and charging for access to raw data are enough to ensure that I'll never buy one of their products again. Kind of a shame, their hardware, dashboard, and app are all pretty great :(

LOL. Complaints about the lack of integration and extra charges from an Apple fan.
Post reply on HN