Under Armour Dumped Its App, and Consumers Feel the Heartbreak

In 2016, Under Armour -- a company typically identified with form-fitting athletic wear and star athlete endorsements -- made a big bet on a lateral play: The company sought to challenge the likes of Fitbit and Apple, teaming up with tech giant HTC to introduce a line of fitness devices, including a wrist-worn tracker, a heart-rate monitor and a smart scale.

Last month, that foray into hardware came to an inevitable end when Under Armour said it is, effectively, conceding defeat. The products originally retailed as a bundle for $400; they were reasonably well received by critics and consumers, but were pricey for the mainstream market and quickly saw declining sales. As Ars Technica reported, Under Armour now is killing the app that runs its “connected fitness” ecosystem, and forcing users to switch over to a new option with substantially lower functionality; most user data from the old app can’t even be saved.