Peloton cuts hardware prices & hikes subscription fees amid calls for sale to Apple

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
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in General Discussion
Peloton's new CEO is taking action to recover the company's finances, by cutting the price of its fitness equipment to clear inventory while at the same time hiking its subscription fees as shareholders again call for a sale to Apple.

Peloton
Peloton


Starting June 1, the fitness company says it will raise the price of its North America All-Access membership from $39 to $44 in the U.S. and from $49 to $55 in Canada. International pricing is set to stay unchanged for the time being.

At the time time, Peloton is slashing the prices of its Bike, Bike+, and Tread hardware in a bid to grow its user base.

Going forward, Peloton's flagship Bike will cost $1,445, down from $1,745. The Bike+ will drop to $1,995, down from $2,495. Its Tread machine will sell for $2,695, down from $2,845.

Additionally, Peloton notes that it also has a rental program that it is testing in specific markets that allows users to get access to its fitness hardware with no c commitment. The rental program also includes its library of classes and workouts.

Peloton has been under pressure in recent months as demand for at-home workout equipment waned. Back in January, the firm said it would be temporairly halting production because of a "significant reduction" in worldwide demand. A month later, Peloton shook up its corporate structure by appointing a new CEO and laying out 2,800 staff members.

According to Peloton, the updated pricing announced Thursday is part of new CEO Barry McCarthy's "vision to grow our community as we continue to deliver for our Members and shareholders as the leading global connected fitness platform."

The new pricing strategy comes amid investor calls for Peloton to sell itself to Apple. On Thursday, activist investors at Blackwells Capital issued a call-to-action suggesting that Peloton selling itself is the "best course of action" for the company.

Blackwells Capital says that Apple is still the best bet for a buy, since it would instantly make Apple the category leader in digital health and wellness, add the ability to bundle Peloton with Apple Watch users, and prevent other companies from gaining a "trophy subscription fitness asset."

Although calls for Apple to buy Peloton have surfaced in the past, neither company appears particularly interested in such a deal. Amazon, however, was said to be eyeing Peloton earlier in 2022.

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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 13
    leavingthebiggleavingthebigg Posts: 1,291member
    Blackwells Capital says that Apple is still the best bet for a buy, since it would instantly make Apple the category leader in digital health and wellness, add the ability to bundle Peloton with Apple Watch users, and prevent other companies from gaining a "trophy subscription fitness asset."

    These are the reasons Australia, the EU and the USA would reject approving the buyout. China would approve the buyout. 
  • Reply 2 of 13
    sagan_studentsagan_student Posts: 185member
    Are those yearly or monthly subscription prices?!
    StrangeDaysdarkvaderwatto_cobra
  • Reply 3 of 13
    sandorsandor Posts: 658member
    sagan_student said:
    Are those yearly or monthly subscription prices?!
    Monthly. 

    The sales pitch is comparing the monthly cost to the monthly membership fee of your gym, personal trainer, etc.

    The rub is that for far less equipment cost & no monthly fee you can ride a bike to work everyday :)
    jeffharrismac_dogStrangeDaysjcs2305darkvaderBeats
  • Reply 4 of 13
    geekmeegeekmee Posts: 629member
    Why would Apple want to get into production
    of exercise bikes???
    As if it didn’t already have enough it was trying to control.
    edited April 2022 jeffharrisentropys
  • Reply 5 of 13
    mikethemartianmikethemartian Posts: 1,324member
    sandor said:
    sagan_student said:
    Are those yearly or monthly subscription prices?!
    Monthly. 

    The sales pitch is comparing the monthly cost to the monthly membership fee of your gym, personal trainer, etc.

    The rub is that for far less equipment cost & no monthly fee you can ride a bike to work everyday :)
    I think the whole point of these type of subscriptions is that you can get motivated by working out with other people even if it is just remote. Maybe for people who don’t know anyone else personally who they can work out with.
    ravnorodom
  • Reply 6 of 13
    freeassociate2freeassociate2 Posts: 178member
    sandor said:
    sagan_student said:
    Are those yearly or monthly subscription prices?!
    Monthly. 

    The sales pitch is comparing the monthly cost to the monthly membership fee of your gym, personal trainer, etc.

    The rub is that for far less equipment cost & no monthly fee you can ride a bike to work everyday :)



    True. But… a lot of people don’t want to deal with the risk of getting hit by a car or some other type of injury. There’s also the messy and costly parts of biking — dirt & grease, maintenance, weather, traveling in the dark, etc. 

    Beatswatto_cobra
  • Reply 7 of 13
    chadbagchadbag Posts: 2,000member
    Apple is not in the business of “saving” foundering companies by buying them.  That is not how they work.   They buy successful companies who have technology or products that enhance Apple.   Peleton is in the former category (“floundering“) and not the latter.  

    Amazon is a much better fit.  Or Google.  
    ravnorodommac_dogStrangeDaysentropyswatto_cobra
  • Reply 8 of 13
    ravnorodomravnorodom Posts: 697member
    Apple is a technology company that creates devices and services to work with your existing stuffs (whether it’s a bike or a toaster). I don’t see Peleton fits that profile for Apple to purchase. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 9 of 13
    genovellegenovelle Posts: 1,480member
    Blackwells Capital says that Apple is still the best bet for a buy, since it would instantly make Apple the category leader in digital health and wellness, add the ability to bundle Peloton with Apple Watch users, and prevent other companies from gaining a "trophy subscription fitness asset."

    These are the reasons Australia, the EU and the USA would reject approving the buyout. China would approve the buyout. 
    Ironically this is why they should. While some think Google, Microsoft, and Amazon support open markets, they do not. They are all following the Microsoft Windows/Explorer playbook where they actively attempt to marginalize Apple products even when they have a much smaller market share. Webkit was made open source to allow it to be a major standard and ensure the internet remained open and accessible to everyone including Apple customers. Google chrome has undermined that ideal and become a proprietary platform that places a server that can mine data from you device at will and transmit back to google at any time. It is becoming impossible to avoid having this on your computer because like the 90s and explorer the anti Apple IT geeks in corporate IT have committed to making chrome the only supported solution. 

    Apple gets into some important markets to keep its customers from being locked out of them. 
    edited April 2022 Beatswatto_cobra
  • Reply 10 of 13
    mac_dogmac_dog Posts: 1,069member
    genovelle said:
    Blackwells Capital says that Apple is still the best bet for a buy, since it would instantly make Apple the category leader in digital health and wellness, add the ability to bundle Peloton with Apple Watch users, and prevent other companies from gaining a "trophy subscription fitness asset."

    These are the reasons Australia, the EU and the USA would reject approving the buyout. China would approve the buyout. 
    Ironically this is why they should. While some think Google, Microsoft, and Amazon support open markets, they do not. They are all following the Microsoft Windows/Explorer playbook where they actively attempt to marginalize Apple products even when they have a much smaller market share. Webkit was made open source to allow it to be a major standard and ensure the internet remained open and accessible to everyone including Apple customers. Google chrome has undermined that ideal and become a proprietary platform that places a server that can mine data from you device at will and transmit back to google at any time. It is becoming impossible to avoid having this on your computer because like the 90s and explorer the anti Apple IT geeks in corporate IT have committed to making chrome the only supported solution. 

    Apple gets into some important markets to keep its customers from being locked out of them. 
    You make a good point, but it would be a stretch for apple to use that rationale to purchase a company/technology that has nothing to contribute to Apple’s DNA.
    StrangeDayswatto_cobra
  • Reply 11 of 13
    Paul_BPaul_B Posts: 82member
    What is the purpose of having a bicycle in a room if you live in a warm place?  It's actually fun riding a bicycle outside or running.  Bicycles are great for theft if you plan your route correctly meaning short cuts.
    darkvaderwatto_cobra
  • Reply 12 of 13
    entropysentropys Posts: 4,168member
    Peloton probably started this rumour. There is nothing in it for Apple.
    Paul_Bdarkvaderjony0watto_cobra
  • Reply 13 of 13
    BeatsBeats Posts: 3,073member
    ravnorodom said:
    Apple is a technology company that creates devices and services to work with your existing stuffs (whether it’s a bike or a toaster). I don’t see Peleton fits that profile for Apple to purchase. 

    I don’t understand all these “not in Apple’s DNA” replies.

    Apple has GymKit, Apple Watch, Health, ResearchKit and Fitness in their ecosystem. It would be great if Apple acquired a gym equipment brand to expand their fitness and health sector.

    Gymkit has an embarrassing market share and it’s frustrating trying to connect to crappy/broken/offline machines at the gym. Most gyms don’t give a F that your Apple Watch/iPhone can track your workouts. Heck, Planet Fitness has machines that are supposed to track your workouts with a 3rd party app but they keep the machines offline and these same machines have a “smartphone” holder that doesn’t fit anything larger than an iPhone 5s!!

    Apple buying a gym hardware company could propel gyms and Apple’s ecosystem into the future. 

    Apple let Copycat Google and copycat Amazon eat their lunch in Home connectivity, I would hate the same to happen at the gym or even at your home gym. 
    watto_cobra
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