While other tech manufacturing companies are trying to squeeze in fitness watch products in their inventory, Microsoft went the other way. The company has pulled out its Band devices from its store. There will also be no Band 3 coming out this year.
Microsoft has pulled out its Band 2 fitness tracker from its own online store, and there is no replacement product for it. The product's web page is still up and running, but instead of arriving at the checkout page upon clicking the "Buy" button, it goes to the company's suggested retailer for the product.
A Microsoft spokesperson stated to ZDNet that: "We have sold through our existing Band 2 inventory and have no plans to release another Band device this year. We remain committed to supporting our Microsoft Band 2 customers through Microsoft Stores and our customer support channels and will continue to invest in the Microsoft Health platform, which is open to all hardware and apps partners across Windows, iOS, and Android devices."
The company also pulled out the Band software development kit (SDK). It was also reported that that the wearable will be pulled out from physical stores, although this remains to be verified.
The first Microsoft Band was released in 2014. It was iOS and Android compatible and had features that stand out from the crowd. By October last year, a more comfortable Band 2 was released. However, both fitness trackers failed to capture a strong foothold on the market. By the time the second version was released, there were also more tech manufacturers producing their own version of smartwatches and fitness trackers. The competition was stiff ,and there is no spectacular feature that came with the Band 2.
This was also not the first smartwatch that the tech giant has released. The company created the MSN Direct Smart back in 2004. Swatch and Fossil collaborated with Microsoft for this project. It was just too early for such a device, so it failed to get off the ground.
