Apple Reorganizes Fitness+ Division to Boost Growth
Apple is restructuring its Fitness+ team in an effort to address concerns about subscriber churn and revenue growth for the workout service.
The reorganization will see Sumbul Desai, Apple’s Vice President of Health, adding oversight of Fitness+ to her existing portfolio. This move comes as Apple shifts the Health division’s reporting structure to SVP of Services Eddy Cue, following the upcoming retirement of COO Jeff Williams. The changes are intended to inject new momentum into a service that has seen limited feature updates since its 2020 launch.
Despite being relatively inexpensive to operate due to its in-house content production, Fitness+ has struggled to gain significant traction in a competitive market. While the service maintains a dedicated user base, reports indicate “high churn” and “little revenue upside.” Apple’s broader commitment to health and wellness initiatives, like the recent addition of workouts to iPhone – eliminating the Apple Watch requirement – suggests the company remains invested in the fitness space. You can learn more about Apple’s health features on their official healthcare page.
Apple Fitness+ is currently available for $9.99 per month or $79.99 per year, and is also included as part of the Apple One Premier subscription bundle. New customers can also receive a three-month free trial with the purchase of select Apple products, such as the Apple Watch.
Apple officials stated they will continue to evaluate the future of Fitness+ and expect to see improved results following the reorganization.
Apple Fitness+ is set to undergo a reorganization to incentivize growth, according to today’s Power On from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.
Since the launch of Apple Fitness+ in 2020, the service hasn’t changed much. It is one of Apple’s few subscriptions that has not changed price, with it still being $9.99/mo or $79.99/year. In terms of new features, Apple Fitness+ has only received a handful over the years, such as support for Strava integration and removing the need for Apple Watch. For these reasons, it is considered one of Apple’s “weakest digital offerings”, says Mark Gurman in today’s Power On newsletter.
The main problems of Apple Fitness+ are “high churn” and “little revenue upside”, according to the report. However, Apple doesn’t plan to give up on the service. Fitness+ has enough of a dedicated fanbase that the backlash would not be worth it, says Gurman. It also would not play well for Apple’s overall health-focused image, in my opinion. Gurman also says it is inexpensive to operate, which makes sense given all content is produced in-house.
In order to combat these struggles, Apple is reviewing the future of Fitness+ and giving the division a reorganization. Sumbul Desai, Apple’s VP of Health, will be “adding Fitness+ to her portfolio”. As previously reported in October, Desai and Apple Health as a whole will now report to SVP of Services Eddy Cue due to the upcoming retirement of COO Jeff Williams. This new structure is intended to apply new pressure to Fitness+ to improve results.
Final thoughts
Outside of Fitness+, Apple has been focused on improving their fitness offerings. For example, they recently brought Workouts to iPhone for the first time, removing the need for an Apple Watch. The latest AirPods Pro 3 and Powerbeats Pro 2 added built-in heart rate monitoring that works with Fitness+. Apple Watch also recently got Workout Buddy, an Apple Intelligence-powered feature that gives personalized insights and motivation during a workout using voices trained on Fitness+ trainers. Hopefully Fitness+ will soon receive the same attention and gain some new features.
Apple Fitness+ is available for $9.99/mo or $79.99/year, or as part of Apple One Premier. You can also get a 3-month free trial with purchase of a new Apple Watch, AirPods Pro 3, Powerbeats Pro 2, iPhone, Apple TV, or iPad.
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