Garmin Adds Activity Tracker, Smartwatch as It Builds on Wearables Lineup Amid PND Declines
Garmin announced a smartwatch and an activity tracker Friday ahead of this week's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The $249 vívoactive HR smartwatch counts steps, floors climbed, intensity minutes and monitors sleep, said Garmin. It has built-in GPS-enabled apps for…
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walking, running, biking, swimming, golfing, paddle boarding, rowing, skiing and snowboarding, the company said. The vívoactive HR uses wrist-based heart rate data to calculate calories burned and the intensity of fitness activities. It also packs Garmin’s Move IQ technology that continuously monitors for periods of sustained activity and automatically recognizes walking, running, biking, swimming and elliptical training. Battery life is given as eight days in watch/activity tracking mode. Garmin's vívofit 3 activity tracker, meanwhile, has a one-year battery life and the Move IQ technology. The tracker’s backlit display shows steps, calories, distance, intensity minutes and time of day, said the company. The tracker is water resistant to 50 meters and has an interchangeable band. Price is $99 or $109 depending on band, Garmin said. On an earnings call last week, Garmin CEO Cliff Pemble said the company is targeting 10 percent revenue growth in the fitness segment in 2016 -- split among trackers and cycling and running devices -- with new products playing a “key role” in growth projections. Garmin’s Q4 revenue slipped 3 percent year over year to $781 million on currency rate changes and ongoing declines in the personal navigation device (PND) market, said Pemble. The company expanded its PND position with Honda and is now in the Pilot, Accord, Civic and CRV models, and Garmin navigation is now in Mercedes-Benz C and E class vehicles, Pemble said. But category declines are expected to be 15 percent this year on continued declines in the PND segment, he said. For the year, Garmin’s non-auto segments were 62 percent of total revenue, compared with 57 percent last year, he said. Garmin believes it's the market-share leader in the GPS-enabled wearables category with low- to mid-40 percent share, said Pemble. The wearables category expanded “significantly” in the past year but is still in growth mode, he said. Garmin expects to take additional share “and reclaim some share” this year on a stronger product lineup.