Fitbit, a global leader in the fast-growing connected health and fitness category, announced its debut in China on June 3.

A variety of Fitbit's award-winning products, including the Fitbit Flex, Fitbit One, Fitbit Zip and Fitbit Aria, are now on sale in China.

Fitbit was established in 2007 in San Francisco by James Park and Eric Friedman. The company designs products and experiences that track everyday health and fitness to empower and inspire people to lead healthier, more active lives.

"It's an exciting time to enter China as Chinese consumers are increasingly emphasizing the importance of health and fitness," said Park, CEO and co-founder of Fitbit.

"We understand there is no 'one size fits all' option in fitness, as consumers have a wide-range of needs and preferences, so Fitbit has created a diverse product family to help people reach their fitness goals. Combined with our attention on the design and wearability of our products, we believe Chinese users will be inspired to track their activity 24 hours and seven days and make healthier choices," he said.

Yoga Lin, a popular Mandopop singer, James Yang, a rising star in the industry, Li Xinmiao, the Miss China champion, and Chen Zeyu, a well-known model and sportsman, attended the Fitbit launch party wearing their favorite Fitbit devices and shared their experiences with the audience.

A Fitbit fashion show, consisting of five styles led by the celebrities, showcased how Fitbit's diverse product family meets a wide-range of needs and preferences of people with different fitness goals.

Fitbit products are now available for sale at JD.com, Apple Stores and FunTalk outlets and are due to enter other renowned E-commerce portals in China soon.

The following Fitbit fitness products are now available in China:

Fitbit Flex: An activity and sleep-tracking wristband with a slim, minimalistic design for goal-oriented people who want more flexibility. Tracks steps taken, distance traveled, calories burned, active minutes and sleep; syncs wirelessly to leading mobile devices and computers (898 yuan, or $147.5); bands are available in eight colors (black, slate, navy, teal, tangerine, lime, pink and violet)

Fitbit One: An advanced clip-based activity and sleep tracker. Tracks steps taken, distance traveled, calories burned, stairs climbed and sleep; syncs wirelessly to leading mobile devices and computers (898 yuan); comes in two colors (black and burgundy)

Fitbit Zip: A fun, simple clip-based activity tracker. Tracks steps taken, distance traveled and calories burned; also syncs wirelessly to leading mobile devices and computers (498 yuan); comes in four colors (black, magenta, blue and lime)

Fitbit Aria: Wi-Fi Smart Scale: A high-end performance scale that tracks weight, BMI, lean mass and body fat percentage over time to give users control over their fitness results; wirelessly syncs stats to the private Fitbit dashboard where interactive graphs show progress over time so users can track progress towards their goals (1,198 yuan); comes in two colors (black and white).

Research

According to research firm IDC, wearable computing devices will reach 19.2 million units of shipments by the end of 2014 and that fitness related accessories will lead the wearables market through 2018 as users continue to embrace their ease of use and low price points.

Gartner Research also projected that sales of fitness devices, apps and services are expected to reach $5 billion by 2016, jumping more than threefold from an estimated $1.6 billion this year.

Fitbit products are used in HR programs by 30 Fortune 500 companies, such as Autodesk and British Petroleum.

Fitbit Wellness is partnered with the leading US health insurers, such as United Health, and population health management companies covering more than 50 percent of the US population.

Fitbit Wellness has thousands of partners representing tens of thousands of employees, such as BP, Box, Coinstar/RedBox, Harvard University, NetApp and TimeWarner.

It has been integrated with leading third party population health management companies, such as Alere, Healthways, LimeAde, RedBrick, StayWell and ShapeUp and leading insurers platforms, such as WellPoint and United Health.

Fitbit Wellness provides employers an easy system to implement program that offers them insights into employees behavior to help create more effective and engaging programs, while providing the employees with an easy-to-use, engaging product that leads to better participation and results.

Study result indicated that people who participated in an online team-based exercise competition with their co-workers increased their daily exercise by 31 percent over a 12-week period.

A 2013 medical study from the Mayo Clinic tested whether a wearable tracker like one from Fitbit could measure mobility in the recovery period after heart surgery.

The study showed that wireless monitoring of mobility after major surgery was easy and practical.

There was a significant relationship between the number of steps taken in the early recovery period, length of stay, and dismissal disposition in an older cardiac surgery population.

It is advised to open the door for changing recovery models and improving outcomes in surgical practice.

zhuanti@chinadaily.com.cn

The Fitbit Family (from left): Fitbit Aria, Fitbit Flex, Fitbit Zip, Fitbit One.

Popular Mandopop singer Yoga Lin and Yolanda Chan, vice president and general manager of Asia Pacific Fitbit, present the products.

(China Daily 06/15/2014 page6)