Jawbone fitness trackers are stepping back into Apple Stores
In recent years, Jawbone fitness trackers had become an Apple Store accessory staple. That suddenly changed when Apple pulled Jawbone products off shelves a month before the launch of the Apple Watch in March.
But Jawbone products will return to Apple Stores worldwide by early July, according to Japanese Apple blog Macotakara, which sourced Jason Donahue, Jawbone’s senior project manager. The stores will carry Jawbone’s UP2 and U3 fitness bands.
Apple has been trying to position the Apple Watch as a comprehensive fitness tracking device, though many of those functions can be handled by cheaper devices like Jawbone’s bands.
The Nike Fuelband and Fitbit’s roster of trackers were also purged from Apple Store walls as the watch’s release drew closer, though likely for different reasons. Nike bowed out of fitness tracking hardware and now focuses on software; Fitbit has so far been reluctant to join Apple’s HealthKit platform. It’s unclear whether Fitbit products will make a comeback to Apple Stores as well.
This isn’t the first time Apple has resurrected competing products. Last year, it pulled Bose speakers and headphones while the company was mired in a legal battle with Beats, which Apple owns. Bose products were brought back to the stores a few months later.
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