When Fitbit was founded in 2007, the company’s focus was to create small wearable devices that could help you become more fitness-focused. Now, after thirteen years, the company’s CEO James Park told investors he’s planning to transform the company from a consumer electronics company to a digital healthcare company.
Read more: How Fitbit is Trying to Transform Healthcare, While Transforming Itself
“We are a fitness social network that is coupled to hardware, and we are on the cusp of transitioning the mission and purpose of our company from a consumer electronics company to a digital healthcare company,” Park told “Mad Money” host Jim Cramer on Thursday.
Park reminded investors that Fitbit’s focus is very different from Apple. The company aims to encourage users to become healthier and more active, whether it is through the use of its devices, software or services. Park said the social aspect of the product drives Fitbit’s growth, reports CNBC.
In August, Fitbit announced its new product – Fitbit Sense – a smartwatch with a sensor that detects skin temperature and can alert users of a potential fever. Park called the new watch a “true health watch.” Besides detecting potential fever, the smartwatch, equipped with an electrodermal activity (EDA) sensor, used in the field of psychology and general healthcare, could also detect stress level.
“I think more people are now seeing fitness and health as one thing,” Park told Forbes magazine, who initially co-founded Fitbit in 2007 because he felt out of shape. “There’s more of an awareness for benefits of holistic body health. And we want Fitbit to go from being just a fitness tracking company to a health company.”
Read more: Fitbit Launches Large-Scale Study To See If Its Wearables Can Detect Atrial Fibrillation
Google bought Fitbit for $2.1 billion last year, in an attempt to bolster its hardware business and breathe more life into Wear OS. Park is confident the transaction will be completed later this year, and noted that “Google has incredible resources. The combination of the two companies has the potential to have a profound impact on the course of health care.”
