Amazon reportedly in discussions to buy Peloton

Amazon reportedly in discussions to purchase Peloton

(Image credit: Peloton)

It'southward fair to say that Peloton — the tech darling of a pandemic-struck era where gyms were out of bounds and much of the globe was stuck at home — has struggled to transition to a postal service-lockdown world. The company has lost more than than $twenty billion of value since November and has had to bargain with the unfortunate field of study of a (fictional) death in the Sex and the City reboot.

Amazon to the rescue? That's the story reported by the Wall Street Periodical, which mentions the retail behemothic every bit one of a number of "potential suitors" interested in purchasing the maker of continued exercise bikes, treadmills and interactive streamed fitness classes.

While a buyout for the firm may be a take a chance — even for a company with the depth of Amazon's pockets — you can certainly see the sense of it. Amazon has fabricated its first steps into the globe of fitness with its Halo Ring tracker, and this would give it a big button forward. The virtual classes could be another tempting extra for those with a Prime subscription, and perhaps most chiefly of all, the visitor's global logistics network could get over the large problem of shipping bulky do equipment to customers around the world.

While the report is vague on the identities of the other potential suitors 1 name that has come up upwardly in the by as a possible buyer is Apple, which of course has its own stake in the globe of fitness with the Apple Sentinel and Apple Fitness Plus.

But that feels like also big a spring to be a serious proffer. As Bloomberg'south Marker Gurman wrote in a recent issue of his Ability On newsletter, Peloton doesn't feel like a natural fit for Apple: fitness equipment is low margin, hard to distribute and not subject area to the upgrade cycles that the company relies on with its hardware.

"Of course, some Peloton investors would love the idea of Apple swooping in," Gurman ended, noting that Disney and Nike had also been linked with a possible bid. "But for now, that'south simply wishful thinking. Apple certainly needs to expand its fitness product line, but I don't think acquiring Peloton is the solution."

The possible Amazon bid sounds a bit more grounded in reality. Merely there are still plenty of hurdles to be overcome for information technology to happen even if, on paper, it feels like a proficient fit.

Freelance contributor Alan has been writing nearly tech for over a decade, roofing phones, drones and everything in between. Previously Deputy Editor of tech site Alphr, his words are found all over the web and in the occasional magazine also. When not weighing upwards the pros and cons of the latest smartwatch, you lot'll probably find him tackling his ever-growing games backlog. Or, more likely, playing Spelunky for the millionth fourth dimension.