Apple is reportedly re-evaluating the future of Apple Fitness+, its subscription-based fitness platform. This review is happening as part of bigger internal changes at Apple. The main concern is that too many subscribers are quitting shortly after joining (high churn) and the service isn’t making as much money as hoped. Fitness+ was launched in 2020 and gives users access to guided exercise videos, like yoga and HIIT workouts, that work well with the Apple Watch, though it can now be used without one. Even with its loyal users, the service hasn’t grown much over the last few years, only getting small updates like better integration with the Strava app.
Experts think that because Apple hasn’t added many major new features and other digital fitness apps are getting more popular, the company is now trying to figure out the best way forward for Fitness+ and where it fits into Apple’s overall plan for its services.
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Apple has made a big change to boost its Fitness+ service, which has seen slow growth recently. Apple’s Vice President of Health, Dr Sumbul Desai, has now been appointed to oversee the Fitness+ division. With this change, Fitness+ will become part of Apple’s larger health department and will report directly to Eddy Cue, the Senior Vice President of Services.
Analysts believe that this switch in leadership is done for better strategic alignment of Apple’s health initiative and its subscription-based service and to bring greater accountability within the Fitness+ team. Apple wishes to move toward a unified approach in digital wellness by putting Fitness+ under the same umbrella as other health projects. The Cupertino giant thus expects that this will lead to deeper integrations between hardware, software, and subscription offerings.
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Despite the slowdown in growth, industry observers believe that Apple has little incentive to axe the platform anytime soon. The running costs of Fitness+ are relatively modest, and such a move would attract undue adverse publicity for a company that has long claimed to be a champion of health, wellness, and personal well-being.
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