EXACTLY! The problems that exist are not on some aging fleet. I mean, it’s one thing to say there are technical issues with a 10 year old car…but chronic issues with a 2 year old car is not expected.
And, as you point out, the weighted average age of the PTON ‘fleet’ is pretty young.
Plus there is the perception that the product is technically not that engineered. I’m not so sure I agree but we’ve all seen the meme 1980 stationary bike with a tablet masking taped to it. Perception trumps reality, I guess.
Of course, the PTON treadmill product cycle didn’t do anything to redeem perception.
But if Windows can be a dominate product then certainly PTON can. So all is not lost.
Don’t forget the total disappointment with their strength solution (I forget what it’s called). When everyone is buying Tonal, the Peloton system was a massive disappointment to the user community.
There are a TON of great questions that are being raised and will be raised, including yours. Most importantly, we had the perfect storm of the combination of a great product/great experience of the Peloton product combined by enormous demand created by the pandemic. It incentivized lots of great products come to the market, including both competitors to Peloton and adjacent categories. The entire work-from-home vs back-to-the-gym question will be a big question for the entire industry. And Peloton, itself will need to figure out whether they have the resources to play in the mid-range market. Personally, I think the biggest pressure they will face is their $40/mo subscription cost.
I think this is a great point…lots of other competitive options entered the market, which undoubtedly blunted some of Peloton’s growth. But it also highlights that there was a large “trend” factor going on for Peloton and some new shiny objects came into play…Tonal, Hydrow, etc.
Right, and the expectation was that the Shiny New Objects would have the Peloton brand on them. The treadmill is VERY nice, but it’s also VERY expensive, and in a way, competes with the bike for sales. The strength thing was just terrible. People have been clamoring for a Peloton rower for a while now too.
Those that you list are just hardware platforms. The high quality indoor fitness EXPERIENCE category was created by Peloton. It is why they, and not the products you mention, were on a rocket ship during the bulk of the pandemic.
The interesting thing is I know a lot of Peloton owners (I used to be one) and don’t know any Bowflex owners. And maybe I am too young (30) to remember the Bowflex era.
Granted both of our experiences are anecdotal but Peloton was definitely a disrupter in unprecedented times. They were able to combine a service and a product well and made it a status symbol.
You know, Pbase, I’m less familiar with that product offering. But I will say that engineering excellence does not always mean consumer acceptance. I give you VHS over Beta.
Well that is for sure true but Peloton was (is?) truly a fitness phenomenon. The level of engagement PTON was able to induce among otherwise sedentary individuals in my house has been extraordinary. So for that, I salute them. Definitely it’s not for me, I just don’t like all that stuff rattling around in my head while I’m working out…but don’t doubt for a minute that there isn’t some special sauce at PTON.
That is absolutely NOTHING like being in a class with 50 friends and having the teacher address you by name, play the song you requested, or crack a joke about when they met you in person. And that could happen every single day in a brand new class with brand new music, people, and workout structure. Peloton sold a lifestyle. There is no comparison to watching a dvd.
100% agreed. Between their group of instructors, online community they were able to cultivate, well designed app, and a well built bike they had a winning formula.
They always sucked at pricing and without a lockdown wave to ride they are quickly coming to the realization that $1400 bikes + $40/month subscriptions is not a recipe for new business. They need to become more accessible: quick. Or make peace that they won’t be as big as they hoped and remain a niche, luxury exercise brand.
IMO the story of Peloton was the belief that we’d have a home workout revolution; everyone would mass quit the gym and create their own home gym with Peloton providing every aspect of it.
Turns out a pandemic forcing everyone home shows you the limits of how many people would establish their own home gym. Hard to project more cash flows assuming a larger uptake in equipment beyond that point. Mix in ill advised high street stores, some deaths from their equipment, and some huge social media missteps and all of a sudden the elite brand has to undertake email advertising and other promotions to try and get more customers.
I mean, this is literally what those other things did.
But anyway I’ve said all I feel on this. Integrated workout plan/platform with premium branding is nothing new. All of our interactions in the present are different than even 20 years ago with online real time interaction, but the kernel of what you are doing is the same. It is in no way a new segment, it’s just a different mode of the same segment.
