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Apple Floated as Potential Buyer of Peloton
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Now we know the meaning of the Scrooge commercials. It was directed towards us. 
That's a tough sell, they are most likely only in trouble because of the costs they charge. It's expensive to buy the equipment and then expensive to pay for the subscription. It was a clever idea but their are other options now that are cheaper.
you're leaving out the cost of marketing and acquisition costs. Peloton has an existing brand.
That's why Salesforce bought slack vs building a messaging app app built using AWS tools (which is basically what slack is). You are buying the reputation, customers, etc.
No, I’m not. And given everything else wrong with the company they don’t deserve the benefit of the doubt.
The thing is that #2 is a much less sure thing than #1. Peloton has created an unusual situation where people spend a bunch of money on home exercise equipment, and they actually use it long-term. Apple could easily fail with their attempt, especially if they have to continue to compete with Peloton who already has a good grip on exactly the market Apple is chasing.
Despite the comments here to the contrary, Peloton's equipment is actually very competitive for the price - completely ignoring the monthly service aspect. It's hard to buy a significantly better bike new for $1500, and with the Tread+, completely impossible to buy an equivalent treadmill even for the $5k they get for it. But hey, Apple tends to do a really good job with their hardware, so if they want to get into that market on their own and best Peloton in equipment and price as well, I'm all for it.
And thanks to this story, I’m up over 10% from my early morning purchase. Thanks to this story for the boost.
and apple is the king of being expensive to buy and getting customers to do it.
You slap apple bike on the peloton and a bunch of people will be buying it cause it says apple and then paying the charge monthly to keep it.
It compliments their content strategy and building out an ecosystem.
But the peloton brand is bad, and even if they don’t sell and can survive they would be well served to change it.
Yes, you are.
The loose screens were the result of inadequately tightened and secured bolts at the assembly stage in the customer's home. The recall was for the lack of a guard on the back of the unit, meaning kids, pets, someone who falls off can be sucked underneath. This latter reason is why the Tread+ is no longer for sale (although plenty of competing units with identical designs are).
but they are in the business of buying companies that are on the cheaper end of what they could be and pouring gasoline on them and making the MC explode.
Peloton previously had a $50b marketcap. Buy it for $8b and put the apple leadership team behind it and using pelotons instructors and engagement and it could grow back to being a $100b piece of the apple MC
So you are saying there were two issues with the product and they didn’t respond immediately either one? I don’t think the fact that it can injure or kill is better than injure and kill.
And the important thing was they didn’t take the issue seriously nor did they respond in a timely way. They messed up and tried to hope people wouldn’t notice or care.
Meh, I’ve done that, when I lived in Minnesota. It’s not that big of a deal. You actually get a better workout.
Proper face mask, gloves, goggles, decent balance for the snowy and icy spots … the rest is easy.
Granted most cyclists wouldn’t do what I did. Bike racks at work went from fully populated during summer, to maybe about 10% used during winter months. Then again, most people aren’t buying a Peloton right now either.
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Not questioning their bikes, never seen one tbh, I own what I consider a good quality spin bike since 2013 that I got for about half of that price back then and it is still in the line-up today, last time I checked for under 900.
The screens were not a recall. They simply fixed the problem at assembly. Again, completely unrelated and they dealt with it appropriately.
And again, they reasonably resisted a recall on the Tread+ because it was forced to be recalled despite the fact there are many other manufacturers who continue to build treadmills that pose the exact same risk who are not being asked to fix them.
I'm not pro-Peloton. I think overall they are doing a poor job managing the company. However I am anti-stupid, and as someone who owns a Tread+, has little kids and pets, and understands the risks, it's stupid that they are recalling the Tread+ and not other brands that pose the exact same risk.
Admittedly, I haven't used Fitness + since July, and as nice as it is to use on the TV or iPad showing active heart rate, the biggest issue I had with the service when I did the trial was lack of content. Peloton has had that in spades, and from that perspective would be a bigger draw, with the 70% greater cost @$16.99 a month CAD vs @9.99 CAD.
You said it. They resisted a recall because other people made safer products. Did they ever compensate people for putting them at risk? Because 'fixing the issue' isn't sufficient when we are talking about bodily harm.
Aligns perfectly with the other things they have said.
Yes! Please Apple make it happen. I own the Bike+ And also use Fitness+. I would love a world where both trainers come together.
Plus this would be an awesome opportunity for apple to explore further hardware and software integration.
(I am not an investor in either company)
Plus this would be an awesome opportunity for apple to explore further hardware and software integration.
(I am not an investor in either company)
Other companies make products that pose the exact same risks. Not safer products. You said that. So again, you are clearly advocating that those other products not be recalled until they too kill someone. Nice.
I hate articles like these because they just negate any true logic. Not only should Apple not buy Peloton but you literally state in the article Peloton is in trouble because of Apple’s Fitness+. Their best life line would’ve been to merge or acquire another fitness startup to try to broaden their portfolio like Tempo or Tonal or to ink a partnership with someone and they had the money to do so following the run up after their IPO. Shareholders are concerned because there’s no more plays left that don’t end with them taking a bath in losses. As an article put it yesterday if you’re on Apple One they’re practically giving Fitness+ away and they just launched a partnership with United HealthCare where you actually do get it for free for a year (this is in addition to the partnership with LifeTime Fitness that gives you Fitness+ with your membership). This is going to be more of a cautionary tale for companies like Tonal who’s business models are the same. Diversify and don’t be a sitting target.
Fitness+ is not a risk to Peloton at the moment. Apple is currently scraping the bottom of the barrel. Peloton has a huge portion of the valuable customers.
What Apple is currently producing is lower quality and lacks the crucial tie in to high-end equipment.
Maybe they should call Suzanne Somers and buy the thigh master as well. The exercise equipment business is full of products that sold great, but then were proven to be fads and fizzled out. Peloton is just the next and anyone who invests in it is a sucker (and it is also much more expensive than the thigh master or the bow flex or all the other machines that went away). Its a bike with a screen. The problem is not enough people don't want to ride a bike in their basement.