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By Megan Cerullo
/ MoneyWatch
Amazon is scrapping its Halo fitness tracker device, a setback for a company long known for having its finger on the pulse of what consumers desire.
The e-commerce company said on Wednesday it will stop supporting the devices effective July 31, a move that will also cost some employees their jobs. Amazon in January announced that it would lay off 18,000 employees, and in March moved to shed an additional 9,000 workers.
Customers who purchased Halo products in the preceding 12 months are entitled to full refunds for their purchases, including subscription fees, Amazon said in a statement on Wednesday.
Amazon is winding down its fitness and health tracking brand just three years after launching it. At the time, the company billed the products and services as “AI-powered health tools” that could monitor activity and sleep, measure body fat, and provide users with information about their health.
But Amazon faced significant competition in the fitness and health tracking segment from companies including Apple, Garmin and Google-owned Fitbit.
In its statement Wednesday, Amazon defended its foray into health tracking tech.”At Amazon, we think big, experiment and invest in new ideas like Amazon Halo in our efforts to delight customers,” the company said.
The Amazon Halo View and Amazon Halo Band bracelet fitness trackers, along with the the Amazon Halo Rise, a sleep tracking stand, will cease functioning August 1. Users will have the ability to delete or download any data the devices have collected that they wish to keep, according to Amazon.
Halo is the latest unit to get the ax as Amazon tries to cut costs amid worries about sluggish online sales and a broader economic slowdown. Among other cuts, the company has shuttered its hybrid virtual, in-home care service Amazon Care, the video calling device Amazon Glow and scaled back its Scout delivery program in recent months.
The Associated Press contributed reporting.
First published on April 26, 2023 / 5:11 PM
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