Microsoft Ends Sale Of Band 2, But Promises ‘Committed’ Support

The rumors about Microsoft possibly discontinuing its fitness tracker business may have turned out to be true after the Redmond tech giant officially stopped selling its Band 2 fitness wearable earlier today.

The Microsoft Band 2 has reportedly been removed from the Microsoft Store. Best Buy followed suit, while Amazon is still posting the device as available but the supply will not be replenished once it runs out, the Verge has learned.

In a statement issued to ZDNet, Microsoft said that it does not have plans to release another Band device — the rumored Band 3 — this year, after selling out its existing Band 2 inventory. Though the Redmond giant did not overtly state that it is done with its fitness tracker line, it did emphasized that it will remain committed to supporting the Microsoft Band 2.

“We have sold through our existing Band 2 inventory and have no plans to release another Band device this year,” Microsoft wrote. “We remain committed to supporting our Microsoft Band 2 customers through Microsoft Stores and our customer support channels and will continue to invest in the Microsoft Health platform, which is open to all hardware and apps partners across Windows, iOS, and Android devices.”

GSM Arena reports though Microsoft has not admitted that it has given up on its fitness trackers, the team behind the Microsoft Band and the Band 2 has already moved on to other projects. Engadget has learned that the team in charge of porting the device to Windows 10 was actually disbanded months ago.

Meanwhile, Gizmodo believes that the death of Microsoft’s fitness tracker should not come as a surprise, since the original Band that was launched in late 2014 did not receive mostly good reviews. At the time of its launch, the tech site even noted that it was disappointing because Microsoft “left plenty of room for improvement.”

When the Microsoft Band 2 was released last year for $250, it also did not receive a lot of good reviews as it was tagged as a not-as-good alternative to Fitbit’s very affordable fitness trackers or even a competent rival to Apple’s $300 Apple Watch.