On the same day Apple Fitness+ was launched, UA China announced the decision to close its sports app UA RUN. According to Professor Dou Yifan from Fudan University School of Management, the failure of Nike+ and UA RUN proves that digital transformation poses greater difficulties for traditional enterprises than conducting e-commerce.
Sports brands intending to carry out successful marketing through apps face three major challenges:
1. Data sharing:
Sports apps connected to the shoes often need heart rate, map and other data collected through other hardware to make more comprehensive analysis. However, all data collectors tend to be cautious towards their own database. And there is not yet proven commercial values for data sharing: even if UA wants to pay Apple for these data, neither party can decide how much the data is worth.
2. Profit model:
Whether to focus on the gross profit margin of sports apparel, or to invest in apps that do not lead directly to cash flow, is a tricky strategic choice that the sports brands are confronted with in the era of data.
3.Platform envelopment：
Platform envelopment refers to one platform provider moving into another one's market, combining its own functionality with the target's, "enveloping" competitors with a larger platform. Apple already offers a huge platform involving Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, earphones, etc. which are all related to exercising in some way. Therefore, the platform envelopment that Apple Fitness+ brings along will be overwhelming and pose a serious threat to the existence of other sports apps.
