Preorders for the Peloton Row will begin Tuesday, with deliveries going out to US customers in December
(Bloomberg) — Peloton Interactive Inc. is launching its long-awaited rowing machine, a $3,195 product aimed at expanding the fitness company’s appeal and helping reverse a sales slide.
The company will start taking orders for the Peloton Row on Tuesday and begin initial deliveries to US customers in December. Peloton has been working on the new machine for several years, with Bloomberg News first reporting on the project in 2019. The shares climbed as much as 2.9% in premarket trading Tuesday.
The device marks Peloton’s first major new piece of exercise equipment since 2020, when it debuted a cheaper version of its treadmill. Like the company’s other products, the Row has a dark exterior design with a touch screen for viewing workout content and classes. The Row’s 23-inch (58-centimeter) display is designed to swivel, and customers can store the machine vertically on a wall when they’re not using it.
Peloton could use another hit product. Its exercise bikes were a hot item during the early days of the pandemic, but demand fell off steeply once people returned to offices and gyms. The hope is to lure new users with the rowing machine and get them hooked on Peloton’s subscription services.
The Row will use Peloton’s delivery and installation service, which is included in the overall price. The company has begun to wind down its in-house logistics teams, relying instead on third-party providers. Peloton also is switching to bikes that users can assemble themselves and has started selling products via Amazon.com Inc. But those options aren’t available for the new device.
The Peloton Row’s screen has three main modes: Form Assist, Form Rating and Insights, and Personal Pace Targets. The first feature shows users how to adjust their form while rowing, while the second one rates their form. The last mode allows users to set custom pace targets for working out during classes.
Peloton shook up its management in February, bringing in Chief Executive Officer Barry McCarthy to turn around the fitness company. But the comeback has been slow to take hold, and the shares remain down more than 90% in the past year.
McCarthy is trying to streamline the company by pulling several levers, including layoffs, parting ways with longtime executives, a shift away from in-house manufacturing, entering new sales channels and shuttering the majority of its retail stores.
At $3,195, the Peloton Row becomes one of the priciest rowing machines on the market. NordicTrack’s highest-end rower is $1,799, while competitors like Aviron and Ergatta have machines that top out under $2,500. Peloton argues that its device is superior because of its design, software and content integration, as well as the equipment’s near-silent row movements.
The Row requires Peloton’s $44-per-month subscription to access any rower content, a slight shift from its bikes, which include three basic classes without the service. Users who already have subscriptions can expand them to include the Row without paying extra.
The Row becomes Peloton’s second-most-expensive device, behind its $3,495 Tread. McCarthy said in August that the company needs to generate more cash, and pricier products like the Row could help bolster revenue. The New York-based company also has been steering customers toward a new leasing program, which combines the hardware and content costs into a single monthly price, but that offering isn’t available for the Row.
The company said last month that revenue will come in between $625 million and $650 million in its first fiscal quarter, missing Wall Street estimates by over $100 million. The Row will launch in the second quarter, and the company hasn’t said how it may affect sales. Peloton also didn’t say when it would be available outside the US.
McCarthy is aiming to make the company cash flow positive in the second half of the coming fiscal year. “We continue to make steady progress, but we still have work to do,” he said in August.
(Updates with early trading.)
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