Fitbit (NYSE: FIT) dominates the market for hi-tech fitness trackers, says Aaron Pressman on Fortune. The Nasdaq-listed firm makes products that track your physical activity, from a £50 clip-on pedometer to a £200 “super-watch”. The firm accounts for around 25% of sales of all hi-tech wearable devices, so it should be doing very well. But its third-quarter results came in far below analysts’ estimates, sending its shares tumbling by more than 30%. Fitbit’s rivals, such as Garmin and Jawbone, are also struggling for growth, while Apple’s own wearable device, the Apple watch, “has hardly taken the market by storm, with sales sinking dramatically ahead of this year’s series 2 upgrade”.
This suggests it is competing over a far smaller niche than investors hoped, says the FT’s Lex column. ”Fitbit reckons it has plenty of growing room”, claiming that only 20% of US adults have a fitness tracker, while 66% say they care about fitness. “But its own flagging numbers suggest that gap might not be a real market opportunity.”
That leaves Fitbit as “just the latest gadget maker that’s seen its shares and outlook get crushed as consumers’ drawers are already stuffed with electronic devices”, says Matt Krantz on Stuff.co.nz. GoPro, which makes small cameras used by cyclists, drone pilots and extreme sports aficionados, also reported weak results last week. Its shares are down by 50% over the past year.
• In the weeks before retail chain BHS slumped into administration with a £571m pension-scheme deficit, Philip Green bombarded the then pensions minister, Ros Altmann, with a “torrent” of “bullying” and “cryptic” text messages, says the Sunday Express. Green sent Altmann 22 texts, some written at five in the morning, despite having been told that he needed to put any requests in writing. “Sources close to Sir Philip… insisted he never wanted to talk to Baroness Altmann about BHS, but refused to be drawn on what he did want to discuss,” reports the newspaper.
• It’s only been five years since Marks & Spencer returned to doing business in France, after quitting the country in 2001. Now it’s in retreat again, with plans to close seven of its 18 shops in France, including its flagship store on the Champs-Élysée. However, 11 franchise stores that sell food will not be closed, which is good news for French gourmands. Le Fooding – the country’s trendiest restaurant and food guide – has just anointed M&S as one of the best places in Paris to buy takeaway food. The guide was particularly taken with the store’s quinoa, avocado and brazil nut salad, and its vegetable kiev.
• No-frills airline Ryanair is advertising what it describes as “the worst job in Ireland” – an assistant to its “misunderstood but beloved” CEO, Michael O’Leary. The company is looking for a “bright, ambitious qualified accountant” for the “demanding and interesting role”, which includes such duties and tasks as “general drudgery” and “MOL-ly coddling”. Essential attributes include “saint-like patience”, an “aversion to bolloxology” and, most curiously, your “own collection of nursery rhymes/bedtime stories”. Manchester United fans and cyclists need not apply, as they will be “tracked down… and shot”.