Last Friday a number of conflicting reports emerged about Nike, claiming that it’s going to give up on its high-profile Fuelband fitness products, or else make some big changes to the way it runs that business.

It’s still not clear exactly what’s happening, but Nike did confirm to Re/Code that it had laid-off a “small number” of staff within its digital sports division. Even so, the company hinted that it wasn’t killing off the Fuelband just yet:

“The Nike+ FuelBand SE remains an important part of our business. We will continue to improve the Nike+ FuelBand App, launch new METALUXE colors, and we will sell and support the Nike+ FuelBand SE for the foreseeable future.”

Nike’s response isn’t terribly reassuring, as there is no mention of whether or not the company actually plans to release new products in the FuelBand line moving forward. Nike may simply want to clear out some old inventory, or perhaps it still hasn’t made a decision one way or another. Even so, Nike sounds like it doesn’t want to leave the mobile health and wellness space completely, but this begs the question, can it remain a player without its iconic Fuelband

Bye, bye Fuelband – Bye, bye Nike?

If Nike really is planning to do away with the Fuelband, it could instead focus on providing software and services. All well and good, but Nike has a big problem here – the Fuelband was its data collection vehicle, and without this it’s going to need to find a new way to access user data and provide those services.

To get around this, Nike could instead focus on building its own branded apps and services for iOS and Android devices, a similar approach to what Google does with its focus on mobile software and services. It already has a platform to build off thanks to the Fuelband app, but even so, it would face some stiff competition from numerous fitness and health apps that are also established with large user-bases, communities and data.

While Nike was figuring out what to do with its Fuelband, a number of small startups have been aggressively attacking the health and wellness mobile space. Companies like FitBit, Fitocracy, Jawbone and Runkeeper all have a great shot of owning the consumer fitness/wellness data space, and most of them have their own hardware too.

Runkeeper, for example, is focused on building software for runners, and has already taken advantage of Apple’s M7 sensor with its iPhone app. Just last week it added a new app to its portfolio, called Breeze, which can keep track of the number of steps a user takes.

Nike’s problem is that in many cases, its the smaller, dedicated teams focusing on niche opportunities that are more likely to find room to leverage the latest technologies and provide the greatest value to their users.

If that really is the case, then Nike faces a tough challenge if it wants to preserve its status as a leader in the burgeoning world of mobile health and wellness.

photo credit: MC =) via photopin cc