product manager

Here is another example of how single-purpose devices are being co-opted by Apple’s general purpose devices.  I am a weekend-warrior (i.e. prosumer) who bikes and runs for enjoyment, and competes occasionally in triathlons.  Put simply, I am exactly the kind of market Polar needs to capture to remain viable. A few years back I spent $300+ on a Polar watch that provided fancy heart-rate monitoring and motion sensors to capture my running rate.  Put that same purchase decision in front of me today and there is no way I would buy the Polar watch again; instead I would buy the iPod Nano.  It supports all of the capabilities on my Polar watch that I actually used. Not a good day  for a Polar Product Manager when a single purpose device like the Polar cannot do its single task better then a general purpose device like the iPod Nano.

iPod Nano | $199

• Watch
• Music/video player
• FM receiver
• Video camera
• Pedometer
• Heart-rate monitor (coming soon)
• On device training tools (i.e. graphs and charts)
• Online training communities

Polar FT80 | $349

• Watch
• Heart-rate monitor
• GPS (in my own personal experience 50% of connections time-out)
• On device training tools
• Online training tools (very poor links and even worse communities)

I see two choices for Polar:

• Go Exclusively Professional:
  • Sell to professional athletes and most shut down their prosumer “weekend warrior” business which requires significant investment in marketing and distribution.  Frankly, this is a tiny market — you are basically selling to college and pro athletes.
• Embrace and extend general purpose devices
  • Build add-on devices like a heart-rate sensor for the iPod Nano.
  • Polar is a brand I trust in this space and I would be willing to spend $40 on a Polar heart-rate sensor.