How Apple is leaving money on the table

The technologies Apple already has

First, think of the technologies Apple can already bring to a fitness band product. The sensors, algorithms, and software the company has already developed would certainly make sense in wristband form when used with a paired iPhone to review the data the band collects. Apple’s sensors have a good reputation for accuracy and could deliver outstanding battery life. They could carry a smaller display to show limited amounts of information, such as time or distance travelled. And I expect the company’s product design teams could build a high-quality health and fitness band with very little effort, as some of the key technologies to support such a device have already been tried and tested on Apple Watch.

Privacy as a product

The second reason is competitive. Apple knows that in Europe under the Digital Markets Act it will eventually be forced to give third-party devices, including fitness bands, peer access to the kind of data it already uses in the Apple Watch. The company has suggested a protected system in which that information is shared (once it has been cleaned up to protect customer privacy), but EU regulators have not yet agreed – and perhaps never will.

The problem at the moment is that Apple doesn’t make a fitness band other than Apple Watch. And there are enough Apple customers who use third-party bands that the company might see an opportunity to bring its own versionto market as a fitness band that doesn’t erode privacy. Ironically, EU competition regulators have given Apple a reason to compete for a market it didn’t originally want to get into — to the likely detriment of incumbents in the fitness band space.

About Author

AndyC

Andy Curtis is an award-winning security consultant, researcher and public speaker. He has been working in the computer security industry since the early 1990s, having been employed by state and federal government, leading healthcare and banking providers across three continents. He has given talks about computer security for some of the world’s largest companies, worked with law enforcement agencies on investigations into hacking groups, and is a regular voice on TV and radio explaining IT security threats.

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