Wearable fitness tracker maker Fitbit files for US$100m IPO

NEW YORK — Fitbit, the maker of a popular line of wearable fitness-tracking devices, yesterday (May 7) filed for an initial public offering worth up to US$100 million (S$133 million).

Fitbit's watch-sized devices can track how many steps a wearer takes and estimate how many calories they are burning, how far they have travelled, and how long they have been active. More advanced devices can track sleep duration and quality, heart rate and running speed, and they can be synced up with smartphone apps.

The San Francisco company's basic Zip activity tracker costs US$59.95, while its Surge "super watch" costs US$249.95. Fitbit also makes a Wi-Fi-enabled scale that records data like body fat in addition to weight.

In its filing with regulators, Fitbit listed among its competitors Apple, which recently launched the much-ballyhooed Apple Watch that includes health and fitness tracking capabilities. They start at US$349.

Fitbit says it has sold almost 21 million devices since 2011, but more than half of those sales were made last year. The company reported US$745.4 million in revenue in , almost triple its total a year earlier, and that pace has continued this year: In the first quarter Fitbit's revenue more than tripled to US$336.8 million from US$108.8 million a year ago.

The company reported a profit of US$131.8 million last year and US$48 million in the first quarter of this year.

Fitbit intends to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "FIT". AP