Peloton cuts cost of exercise bike by 20 per cent as losses worsen

Connected fitness brand Peloton has slashed the price of its core exercise bike after posting worsening losses for the fourth quarter of its 2020/21 financial year, with growth in revenue also slowing.

The price cut of around 20 per cent has been applied in all of the New York City-based companies markets including the UK, where the price drops by £400 to £1,350, as well as the US, Canada, Australia and Germany.

Access to the company’s online fitness classes remains payable by separate subscription, the company said as it updated shareholders on its fourth-quarter results for the year ended 30 June 2021.

“Today, we announced our latest step in making Peloton more attainable by lowering the price of our original, award-winning Peloton Bike across all of our markets to $1,495 USD, or $39 per month with our 39-month financing plan,” the company said.

“We know price remains a barrier and are pleased to offer our most popular product at an attractive everyday price point.”

During the final quarter of the year, the number of Connected Fitness Subscriptions grew 114 per cent to over 2.33 million and paid Digital Subscriptions grew 176 per cent to over 874,000, and the business, which benefited from lockdown laws in its core markets last year, now has 5.9 million subscribers. Revenue was $934.6 million.

However, it posted a net loss for the quarter ended 30 June of $313.2 million, and its bottom line was also hit by product recall costs following the death of a child who was pulled under one of its treadmills.

It is set to launch a redesigned and cheaper version of the treadmill in the coming days having addressed safety issues.

The company has also launched the Peloton Corporate Wellness programme, which will enable organisations to offer discounted products and subscriptions to their employees, with businesses already signed up including Samsung, SAP, Accenture Interactive and, in the UK, Sky.

“The corporate wellness market is large and growing, and we are uniquely positioned to add value through our proven ability to drive high engagement and member satisfaction, while also offering back-end enterprise features that reduce administrative load, including tools to measure program impact via a secure, easy-to-use portal,” Peloton said.

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