Updated: Peloton Amazoned!
Update from TC which broke the news: Amazon has disavowed the Prime Bike, saying it has nothing to do with the product and removed it from the retailer’s site. Read more here.
Yes, Amazon has cloned Peloton - the experience exercise company - and that becomes a new factor Peloton needs to worry about. If one of the largest companies in the world comes after you, and cuts the price of the main product, from $1,900 to $500, you have a real problem.
Amazon teamed up with Echelon to build and sell the Prime Bike. The $500 exercise bike is a virtual clone of the $1,900 Peloton bike minus the screen — even the color scheme and design are the same. The bike is available now from Amazon (and Walmart, with slightly different branding).
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The Prime Bike has nearly every feature found on a Peloton bike, from multiple adjustments to front-mounted wheels for easy movement. Instead of toe clips, the Prime Bike uses straps to lock riders’ feet to the pedals. However, the Prime Bike weighs 80 lbs instead of the Peloton’s 135 lbs, which suggests it’s not as well-built and lacks the solid feel of a Peloton.
Dominance from the ICT utilities. This happens when you have influence on demand. So, just like that, Amazon Prime members have another value, picked from a market-leader and integrated into their subscriptions. The fact is this: Amazon does not need to be as good as Peloton, it just needs to be okay as customers will make up through the compounding value of bundling. Yes, if Prime gives them the platform to exercise, why do they need to spend another subscription money on Peloton? Expect this move to be a turning point for Peloton. No one wants to be amazoned!
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It depends on what Peloton has been selling to its customers and fan, whether value was more about the product itself or how it makes them feel; if the latter holds more appeal, Amazon may not be able to dislodge that, because it is more intrinsic.
Nike disengaged from Amazon, and now it announced it would go fully online; why was Nike so confident of its future without space on Amazon? Because it knew there's only one Nike, you cannot clone it...
What you bring and where you play say a lot about how realistic it is for any behemoth to have a chance of threatening you with truckloads of cash; it's not always about price.
We will see if there's more to Peloton than just a platform for bike and exercise.
Anyway, Amazon is now denying that they have anything to do with the Echelon's five hundred dollars bike; do we don't know who to to believe again.