Fitbit, manufacturer of electronic wearable fitness devices, has launched its new smartwatch Blaze, in direct competition with the Apple Watch, but failed to convince Wall Street investors.
The company made the announcement on Tuesday at the biggest consumer technology fair in the world, Consumer Electronics Show, being held in Las Vegas.
The watch is priced at $US199 ($A278) onwards - half the price of the cheapest Apple smartwatch - and will go on sale in March.
Fitbit also announced the battery backup of its watch is five days as opposed to 18 hours of the Apple watch.
Even so, the announcement failed to convince Wall Street and Fitbit stocks fell by 18.45 per cent, closing at $US24.27 per share, the lowest since its stock market debut in June 2015.
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Angelo Zino, an analyst working with S&P Capital IQ, pointed out in a note to investors the price could be too high for a device that does not offer access to applications developed by third parties like other smart watches.
Blaze allows one to monitor physical activity, as well as accept or reject phone calls, read text messages, and check calendar entries, among other functions, but does not allow, for example, to access Facebook or make payments like other smart watches.
David Goldman, a CNN network analyst, said on Tuesday these limitations may not turn the watch into competition for other smartwatches.
