Samsung to join forces with Under Armour for wearables: sources

South Korea's tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. is expected to join hands with U.S.-based sports clothing maker Under Armour Inc., market sources said Wednesday, signifying the smartphone maker's move to expand existence in the international wearable devices market Nike Free Run. The outlook came as Lee Jay-yong, the de facto heir supposedly met with Kelvin Plank, the founder and chief executive officer here. During the meeting, they've reportedly discussed ways of countering impact from cooperation between Apple Inc. and Nike Inc. in the wearable devices sector. Apple and Nike have now been making efforts to seek convergence between sports wear and smart devices since 2006 by rolling out Nike iPod Sport Kit, which came with a wireless detector t https://www.crossingthesimpson.com/mens-nike-blazer-low-vintage-suede-premium-black-white-sale.html. be integrated into shoes to send data in time, distance, speed and calories bu sources tell me.ned to Apple's products. In 2012, FuelBand, a wearable device that simply connects to Apple products was released by Nike. Industry watchers said Nike will eventually reduce its wearable business to concentrate on the U.S. technology giant's first wearable device set to be released later this year, supposed to be called the "iWatch." This season, it rolled out the Galaxy Equipment Fit, which works on real-time operating system, in addition to the Tizen-powered Samsung Equipment 2 and Gear Neo. Last month, it also debuted the Samsung Gear Live, the first member of line that works under U.S.-based Google Inc.'s Android Wear platform. Samsung is estimated by sending some 500,000 units to have took up 71 percent of the international wearable market in the first quarter of the year. The company's dominance, however, is anticipated to be endangered by Apple's first full fledged wearable device set to be launched in October this season. The global market for wearable devices is expected to reach US$6 billion by 2016, industry watchers said. The wearable marketplace has been one of the most focused on sectors in recent years, especially as the smartphone industry's increase slowed as a result of market saturation. Last week, Samsung, the world's biggest technology company by revenue, estimated its second quarter operating profit at a sharply lower-than-expected 7.2 trillion won ($7.01 billion) amid a slow down in its smartphone company. The approximation represents a 24.4 percent fall from its operating profit of 9.53 trillion won last year. Analysts here attributed the sluggish gains to slow sales both at the low end and high end amounts.