Is the Future of Nike in the Software Industry?

For the last several years, Nike has been toting its Nike Fit line of wearable tech equipment. These devices allowed runners and other individuals wearing the equipment to track their performance, the amount of calories they burned and the “Nike Fuel” they earned, which would help them determine how much they could eat or mark other progress through different Nike applications. However, just recently, Nike announced it is abandoning its wearable tech lineup, as more and more smart phones and other devices are now able to do exactly what the Nike Fit bands could, which limited the sales numbers of the device. Due to this, many are wondering what exactly Nike plans on doing with its tech department and if it plans on focusing on the software industry. Perfect example of Technology PR creating massive buzz for an established brand.

The first question that might come up is in regards to 3D printing. After all, 3D printing is starting to more and more of a shape in households throughout the country. While most individuals do not have a printer inside of their home that can handle 3D based tasks, the price is starting to regularly drop with the equipment, so it is only a matter of a few years before this becomes more of the norm throughout the country. However, there are a few issues with Nike getting into shoe printing features. First, 3D printers only really produce material in plastics. With so many different materials required for a shoe, such as rubber, cloth, plastics, metals, nylon and others, it really isn’t possible for Nike to fit into this specific category. Until home 3D printers become less expensive and are able to use many different materials in the printing process, this is an unrealistic aspect, at least for the moment. Perhaps in another decade, when 3D printing has evolved into further. So, for now, this isn’t a viable option.

In reality, Nike is probably going to continue to provide software applications for smart phones for the current future. It is able to produce applications for smartphones that care possibly sync with the shoes the consumer is wearing. Nike has used this technology for a long time, although it is likely going to continue using it for right now. Most likely it is going to stay with this sort of technology for the immediate future in order to monitor how 3D printing continues to evolve. If the movement of 3D printing starts to slow though, expect Nike to pull out almost completely from the tech industry.