Amazon demands fitness company ditch “Prime Bike” in intellectual property stoush
Echelon Fitness is getting attention after falsely claiming it developed a ‘Prime Bike’ in “collaboration with Amazon”.
American company Echelon Fitness is getting attention after claiming it developed a ‘Prime Bike’ in “collaboration with Amazon”.
The indoor exercise bike was posted on Amazon’s website for $500, undercutting the premium-range indoor exercise bikes offered by Peloton Interactive Inc.
The news pushed Peloton shares down by about 6.7% on Tuesday, but they recovered to be down just 2% by end of trading.
While Echelon Fitness promoted the product on Amazon and labelled it the ‘Prime Bike’, the e-commerce giant denied any claims of collaboration, and asked the fitness company to remove the product from its website.
Bloomberg reported the spat, and included a statement from an Amazon spokesperson, who explained the bike “is not an Amazon product or related to Amazon Prime”.
“We are working with Echelon to clarify this in its communications, stop the sale of the product, and change the product branding,” they said.
The product is ‘currently unavailable’ on Amazon.
In a Fox Business interview, Echelon Fitness chief executive Lou Lentine confirmed the company has begun work on “a new name for the bike”.
As SmartCompany reported earlier this year, the market for cycling and exercise bikes has rapidly increased since the onset of worldwide COVID-related lockdowns, with one Australian business boasting an increase in sales revenue of 200% year-on-year.
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