Instead of building a platform from scratch, sometimes it’s better to just buy one. Or two. That’s the route Under Armour is taking by snapping up MyFitnessl Endomondo, two popular diet fitness-tracking apps, for a reported $560 million.
That isn’t the first big buy for Under Armour—it bought MapMyFitness in 2013 for $150 million. The company has its sights set on Nike, which currently sells a FuelB wearable has an accompanying app in the ay Store.
Under Armour is adding Endomondo (left) MyFitnessl (right) to its fitness portfolio.
This move makes recent rumor that Under Armour will partner with HTC for a wearable product an important piece of its future plans. The recent buzz says it would be fitness b, but the Bloomberg report says it’s insiders are hearing that it will be an actual smartwatch. atever it is, HTC will have a huge spotlight at Mobile rld Congress to show it off, when it will also unveil its One M9 smartphone.
Under Armour already has its own app: UA Record for Android iOS. Expect it to fold MyFitnessl Endomondo into its own app at some point, even though it says the companies will still work out of their own offices for now. Another option is a re-launch of an entirely new service altogether, combining the best attributes from all three.
Under Armour announced the deals during its fourth-quarter earnings call on dnesday, along with a 31 percent growth in sales.
y this matters: arables are all the rage, with plenty of new bwagon-jumpers at CES trying to get in on the action. But few can match the cash br cachet Under Armour has to throw at this. Even if we don’t see an Under Armour-bred product at Mobile rld Congress, such a device may not be far off.
