Apple and Nike: the Brangelina of tech
Apple's partnership with Nike is like no other.
Sure, Apple teams up with manufacturers, retailers and mobile networks all the time. Willing firms like Yahoo and even rivals like Google supply core services, auto manufacturers are baying to integrate CarPlay and accessory makers clamour for that 'Made for iPhone' certification.
But with Nike it's different. It's just… tighter. The two American powerhouses are the Brangelina of the tech and business world: made to bask in each other's respective glories.
Since 2006 we've seen an abundance of joint launches, which for Apple is rarer than rocking horse poop. Meanwhile Nike's fitness software was baked-in to Apple devices long before that became the done thing. Apple has added key Nike figures to the payroll in the last couple of years and, heck, Apple CEO Tim Cook has been on the board of directors at Nike for almost a decade.
A short history of everything
It all started, at least publicly, back in 2006, when Nike joined Apple at an event in New York to announce Nike+iPod.
Thanks to a special pair of Nike Airs, with a compartment within the sole for a thumbnail-sized sensor, running shoes were now able to communicate with MP3 players. The sensor featured an accelerometer, which tracked how long the foot spent on the ground, while also recording the number of steps taken.
Combined with the timer on an iPod nano, runners could get accurate speed, distance and calories readings, all while listening to their favourite tunes and receiving regular voice updates on the progress off their workout. Plugging the iPod nano into iTunes via USB saw all data was synced back to the Nikeplus.com online portal where runners could track performance and goals over time.
Steve Jobs called it "like having a personal coach or training partner motivating you every step of your workout" and it became the foundation of everything we expect from a fitness tracker today.
A couple of years later, the app arrived on the second-generation iPod touch (2008) and the iPhone 3GS, allowing wireless transmission of data. The tech was even built into specialist gym equipment. In 2010, the firm released the standalone Nike+ GPS app for iPhone (Now Nike+ Running) which combined location tech and the phone's accelerometer, allowing users to ditch the sensor altogether.
App attack
As of today, Nike is nearly as big a part of the iOS ecosystem as built in apps like Weather, Stocks, Clock and more. However, just lately, rumblings have suggested there's some bigger brewing beyond Nike powering the iPhone's health conscious side.
Reports over Easter revealed Nike had fired the majority of employees working on FuelBand fitness hardware in order to focus on software, potentially adding a new twist to this intriguing friendship.
Why would Nike exit the buzzworthy wearable sector, when it's the fastest growing in both the fitness and the technology industry? Unless it has bigger plans afoot. Unless it plans to leave the hardware to a specialist and a friend like, say, Apple.
Apple and Nike: Making sweet technology together?
Reports have suggested that an Apple/Nike hook-up exactly what's behind Nike's spree of layoffs.
One site says that it had word from Apple insiders that claimed the rumoured iWatch device will actually be less smartwatch and more smartband with heavy integration of Nike software and perhaps the Nike Fuel fitness currency that allows wearers to tick-off daily movement goals. The report says the device will launch in time for Christmas.
Beyond that there have been several recent pointers that have us kicking ourselves for not seeing the potential launch of a Apple/Nike smartband coming a mile away. How about the hire of Nike's designer Ben Shaffer, who reportedly played a leading role in the design of the FuelBand? Or the reported pick up of long-time Nike fitness consultant Jay Blahnik?
These hires could have been coups for Apple but it seems more than likely that both went Nike's consent to assist the greater cause. And then there's Nike's VP of Digital Sport, Stefan Olander claiming he "hopes" Apple does launch an iWatch in order to "continue the partnership in a meaningful way."
We've also been awash with reports claiming the iWatch wouldn't be so much of a smartwatch, but more of an all-encompassing health and fitness band with iOS integration. Apple has reportedly been stock-piling medical tech experts, with experience in biometrics like vein mapping and blood monitoring, while speculation has suggested the iWatch will include sleep tracking tech and the most accurate motion sensor yet.
Last year we even speculated: "So will the iWatch be more like a Nike Fuelband on speed than a souped up iPod nano for your wrist? Sure looks that way."
Tellingly, despite launching two generations of the FuelBand, Nike has so far neglected to release a compatible app for Android despite claiming one was in the works six months ago. Surely if Nike were truly serious about conquering the fitness wearable's market it wouldn't alienate three quarters of the market. Perhaps it was preparing for something bigger all along?
Get cooking
Cook likes Nike. That much is clear. His appointment to the board in 2005, while still Apple COO may have underpinned the friendship and fostered the partnership. Even more so than his predecessor, Apple's leader seems to value what the health and fitness sector means to Apple and its future.
Perhaps there was more to Tim Cook showing up at an Apple launch event wearing a FuelBand. It could well have been a clanging great hint when Cook refused to discuss the iWatch but singled out the FuelBand for praise during the D11 conference in 2013?
The clues have been there all along: Nike and Apple seem to have something big and it's only a matter of time before that thin veil is removed.
It makes sound business sense too. Nike would surely be happy to leave the hardware side to Apple if its Nike Fuel currency was transplanted into any new fitness band. While it has dabbled successfully with fitness accessories like wristbands and watches down the years, Nike's vast empire is emphatically dependent on sportswear sales; trainers, not trackers.
For Apple, they'd be getting expertise from a trusted partner with huge name recognition, rather than plotting its own course in an already densely populated fitness market. Why create a new, competing fitness portal when it has a ready-made solution, well refined over almost a decade?
Together the pair could forge an unstoppable partnership in the wearable tech sector that could leave upstarts like FitBit and Jawbone in the dust, while supressing efforts from more traditional rivals Samsung, LG and the rest.
While a co-branded device is probably unlikely, with the full backing of Nike and the integration of everything the FuelBand did well, Apple's wearable would surely have what it takes to sprint clear of the field once again.
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