Amazon is discontinuing its health-focused Halo devices and membership as the tech giant continues to cut costs.
The company told its customers Wednesday that it would be providing refunds to anyone who bought Amazon Halo devices in the past year. Refunds will also be given to customers who have unused prepaid Halo subscription fees.
Amazon introduced its Halo line in 2020 with the launch of a fitness-tracking wristband that worked alongside a subscription service and smartphone app. Since then it has expanded the line to offer more wearables and a bed device that tracks sleep patterns.
“While we’re proud of what we’ve built, we recently made the difficult decision to discontinue support for Amazon Halo effective July 31, 2023,” the company said in a blog post.
Halo is the latest entity to be dropped from Amazon as it works to cut costs amid concerns about the broader economic environment and sluggish online sales. Among other things, the company has shut down its hybrid virtual home care service Amazon Care, video-calling device Amazon Glow, and scaled back its Scout delivery program in recent months.
According to Amazon, the Halo devices and app will stop working after August 1st. Users can download or delete their Halo health data, it said.
The company did not want to say how many employees were affected. On Wednesday, it said it had notified those affected in the US and Canada and was working to notify employees in other regions.
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