Apple Floated as Potential Buyer of Peloton

[Surf760]

Stock has been absolutely plunging.

That being said, all the people on this thread just trashing Peloton, clearly have never used the product. It's not for everyone, but it's an exceptional product. If the company is managed well, it will flourish and would be a solid asset. Also it's community is cult-like, which fits well with Apple's.

Remember, there was a time where Apple was near collapse and got revived, and their product pre Jobs return was far less quality.

Peloton just needs better guidance. Didn't have enough bikes when demand was at a crazy high. Bought factories to build bikes, and now there is no demand. Now there is a manufacturing pause.

 

[4jasontv]

wonder how many people have wrecked their cars because they were on their iPhone...

Do you mean how many people totaled their Fort Pinto while in stop-and-go traffic?

 

[erikkfi]

"We'd be a great purchase, Tim. Please?"

 

[chr1s60]

I have more issues with the attitudes of Peloton owners than I do with the company. Just saying.

 

[rictus007]

Have you priced bicycles lately? Not talking about some basic single speed you ride for fun, but a bike that is made to be ridden hard and fast? Because a Peloton isn’t a bike made for just slow peddling - sure, you could use it for that, but it’s a spin bike made for high intensity workouts. Yes, there are less expensive versions of the Peloton Bike out there, but Peloton’s competition isn’t really knock-off versions of their bikes, but rather gym memberships. I know for my wife and I, the Peloton bike and monthly subscription (which you only pay per household) is half what it would cost to get a membership to spin at our local gym, which my wife had been doing prior to the pandemic. So all in it’s a better deal and we can ride whenever we want and not have to drive to the gym.

Yes, specialized between $800-1,200. The stand around $300 (used like the one that I bought $50)

 

[GLS]

Ahem.

Odds are that members of Apples C-suite are already using Peloton equipment, as well as the board of directors. I could easily see Apple picking Peloton up as a means of providing continuity for the equipment and service

Also, the Venn diagram of peloton owners and iphone/apple watch users is almost a perfect circle. In other words, this move would be apple providing another service to users of their own products, and that they would gladly keep paying. Think 2 tiers of apple fitness; one with equipment, another without.

 

[GDF]

Too bad about Peloton. They are building a new factory in Ohio, so wonder what that means for that.

And what will it mean for Precor, since Peloton purchased them last year.

 

[erikkfi]

Also, the Venn diagram of peloton owners and iphone/apple watch users is almost a perfect circle.

That doesn't suggest any potential growth, especially in light of Peloton's drop-off in sales. Instead it suggests that every Watch owner who wants a Peloton has one.

When Apple bought Beats it was primarily to acquire a software product that could form a quick foundation for an iTunes Radio replacement. Radio was foundering. If Fitness+ isn't doing well and Peloton's fitness software is truly something Apple wants to assimilate, this could happen. But it won't be because Apple has a yen for selling exercise equipment all of a sudden. And it damn sure won't be because some bored Wall Street analysts floated this idea on a lazy Friday.

 

[coolfactor]

I’m surprised Peloton didn’t fail sooner. Expensive bikes, expensive subscription. You get the same thing with a phone/tablet and any cheap bike/treadmill paired with a subscription to some fitness program, many of which are cheaper than peloton or even free.

But it's funny that all the Pelotonians out there were bashing Fitness, and oh, how the tables have turned. Peloton is like the Blackberry of the home fitness industry... arrogant and blindsided. Apple's cool, calm and calculated approach to entering a new market has proven correct again.

 

[coolfactor]

That doesn't suggest any potential growth, especially in light of Peloton's drop-off in sales. Instead it suggests that every Watch owner who wants a Peloton has one.

When Apple bought Beats it was primarily to acquire a software product that could form a quick foundation for an iTunes Radio replacement. Radio was foundering. If Fitness+ isn't doing well and Peloton's fitness software is truly something Apple wants to assimilate, this could happen. But it won't be because Apple has a yen for selling exercise equipment all of a sudden. And it damn sure won't be because some bored Wall Street analysts floated this idea on a lazy Friday.

Apple never bought Beats for any software. They bought it for the hardware brand and recognition. There was no such thing as iTunes Radio before. The Radio feature in iTunes was just a collection of 3rd-party streaming radio stations, and oh, how I miss those!

 

[StarShot]

I’m surprised Peloton didn’t fail sooner. Expensive bikes, expensive subscription. You get the same thing with a phone/tablet and any cheap bike/treadmill paired with a subscription to some fitness program, many of which are cheaper than peloton or even free.

I bought a Pro Form exercise bike (Tour de France model) at Costco 15 months ago for $400. This past Xmas Costco had it on sale for $300. The bike comes with 1 year of iFit video training rides via the internet. Yeah, it doesn't have all the bells that the Peloton has but it does what I want.

 

[_Spinn_]

If Apple didn't buy Fitbit I don't see this happening either.

 

[GadgetBen]

They'd have to replace ALL of the android tablets on the devices, however, even the largest iPad currently isn't anywhere near a satisfactory size for the equipment.

 

[icwhatudidthere]

Apple never bought Beats for any software. They bought it for the hardware brand and recognition. There was no such thing as iTunes Radio before. The Radio feature in iTunes was just a collection of 3rd-party streaming radio stations, and oh, how I miss those!

Where do you think Apple Music came from?

 

[toph2toast]

But it's funny that all the Pelotonians out there were bashing Fitness, and oh, how the tables have turned. Peloton is like the Blackberry of the home fitness industry... arrogant and blindsided. Apple's cool, calm and calculated approach to entering a new market has proven correct again.

Really? I'd be curious to see the number of active users on Fitness+ compared to Peloton, or better yet, number of workouts/user each month. I have Fitness+ only because it's wrapped into my Apple One subscription. I've tried it twice and don't think highly of it, and new content isn't generated nearly as often as Peloton. Nothing about it makes me feel like "the tables have turned". Fitness+ is an inferior experience.

Also, the "cool, calm and calculated approach to entering a new market" doesn't always work out for Apple. They've had multiple products fall flat in their history, or require massive overhauls.

 

[barthrh]

Well don't stop there, enlighten us then. What did they all get right? What did they all get wrong?

There are a bunch of responses clarifying what they got wrong (and right). To summarize, biking outside, road bike on a mill, stationary bike w/ tablet are not equivalent products. This is a spin class, so the equivalent is going to a class at Soul Cycle (like $20 per class, no?). If you ride 3x weekly, it's a pretty easy business case. The bikes are expensive, but they are very well made, rock solid, use magnets for resistance so you don't get the squeaky and inconsistent resistance of a pad-based spinning bike. What they got right is that it's not cheap, but $50/mo for very high quality content for bike, yoga, boxing, running, etc. for the whole family isn't bad *if you use it*.

 

[VideoFreek]

With respect to Peloton be an unprotected business model, could you not say the same for Apple? There are cheaper PC and Android alternative that dominate the market.

Sure, Apple's has a closed system, but all of their products and services can be found or replicated elsewhere on another platform. Many simply choose to go with Apple for the quality, experience and coolness factor.
I think Peloton is the same. It is/was the platform of choice for many middle to upper class individuals because of very much the same reasons.

Protection does not imply that alternatives do not exist--it concerns whether the offering can be duplicated precisely (and therefore commoditized). Apple continues to exist and thrive despite swimming in an ocean of "alternatives" because they are able to differentiate their hardware offerings and UX design in ways that the alternatives can emulate but not match, due to formidable barriers created by Apple's patent estate as well as their proprietary know-how. Consider Windows vs MacOS; Android vs iOS. There are reasons people continue to pay a premium for Apple products that go far beyond their "coolness."

In the case of Peloton, I just don't see the same thing. The hardware can be easily duplicated (and is), and I don't see that the content is anything special. Here is a list of Peloton's patents--there are fewer than 20. What do you suppose Apple's list looks like?

 

[J InTech82]

The only reason why Apple would buy them is to increase their services revenue.

 

[Alex3917]

Its obvious your an experienced rider

Not really. I bought the bike a few months before the pandemic. I'd never ridden a road bike before that, or even owned a bike since college. Nor had I ever used rollers before. I just went on YouTube and figured it out, I did spend a bunch of hours to figure out what I wanted but it wasn't really that difficult.

And yeah I fall off the rollers all the time and bruise my arms or occasionally cut my legs, but imho it would be pretty unlikely to get seriously injured on them.

 

[ftaok]

Don't you think that these customers already have one (or several) Apple Watch(s) ?

Probably, but maybe they’re not Fitness+ subscribers. That’s might be a customer Apple is interested in.

 

[jman88]

Secondary question, do they even support GymKit? I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a single piece of exercise equipment in the wild that does.

Yes they do! I have a Peloton Bike+ and it works great with the Apple Watch using GymKit. You just tap your watch on the screen and it tracks your workout and displays all the info from the watch on the screen.

 

[szw-mapple fan]

I’m surprised Peloton didn’t fail sooner. Expensive bikes, expensive subscription. You get the same thing with a phone/tablet and any cheap bike/treadmill paired with a subscription to some fitness program, many of which are cheaper than peloton or even free.

Not to mention them getting rid of functionalities like GymKit integration. At that price point I would imagine they have a lot of pissed off customers who are Apple users.

 

[jman88]

Not to mention them getting rid of functionalities like GymKit integration. At that price point I would imagine they have a lot of pissed off customers who are Apple users.

They didn't get rid of GymKit Integration. It still works on the Bike+. I have one. You just tap your Apple Watch on the screen and it syncs automatically and displays the info from your watch on the screen. What they did get rid of was the Bootcamp GymKit integration, which is part exercising off the bike combined with cycling. They say they had to do this in order to comply with Apple's updated terms. Apple seems to have updated their terms for GymKit, to now allow it to be used for anything that competes with Apple Fitness, such as weight training, so Peloton is limited to use it for cycling only.

 

[erikkfi]

Apple never bought Beats for any software. They bought it for the hardware brand and recognition. There was no such thing as iTunes Radio before. The Radio feature in iTunes was just a collection of 3rd-party streaming radio stations, and oh, how I miss those!

You're mistaken. iTunes Radio was Apple's first attempt at a Spotify competitor. I liked it too - but they bought Beats to quickly grab and rebrand more fully-formed product. That's Apple Music.

 

[Wola]

You don't really get the same thing. The same argument could said about Apple computers, expensive and people can just buy cheaper PCs for roughly the same thing. But we all know the 'same thing' here isn't actually the same.

Pelotons problem is their market is the spin market, not the general exercise bike market. They got overextended during covid and appear to have poor management based on how they handled the Tread issue.

Apple and Peloton would actually be a great fit with what I would guess a fairly large overlapping customer base right now. The only question is if Apple wants to do more with fitness or just keep it an Apple Watch thing...

Nah. I’m both a longtime Mac user and peloton bike owner (since 2016) Apple most likely would have to retrofit apple screens and environment onto the bike, tread etc (I have the new peloton screen and it’s horrible + android based). Maybe it would be nice to have them acquire peloton for the customer base but why bother. Let peloton be bought out by someone else or let it go bankrupt. Or apple should just talk to the bike manufacturer/supplier since peloton isn’t making any new bikes for now…