Amazon.com, Inc AMZN has stopped the sale of an exercise bike manufactured by the fitness firm Echelon, which was dubbed by some as the “Prime Bike,” Forbes reported Tuesday.
What Happened: The Jeff Bezos-led company told Forbes that the $499 exercise bicycle “is not an Amazon product or related to Amazon Prime.”
“Echelon does not have a formal partnership with Amazon. We are working with Echelon to clarify this in its communications, stop the sale of the product, and change the product branding,” an Amazon spokesperson told Forbes.
The e-commerce giant also updated the bike’s product listing on its portal — hours after its launch on Tuesday night — by removing any mention of Echelon’s partnership with Amazon and marking the product as “currently unavailable.”
Why It Matters: Echelon had originally named the bike as the “EX-Prime Smart Connect Bike.” The Chattanooga, Tennessee-based firm’s CEO Lou Lentine claimed the fitness product was developed in collaboration with Amazon, as per a company press release, which has since become unavailable.
The bike was priced significantly lower than rival Peloton Interactive Inc’s PTON version, which costs $1,895.
The subscription-based model of Peloton has seen a significant uptick during the COVID-19 pandemic. The company’s shares have risen by almost 233% year-to-date.
Price Action: Amazon shares closed nearly 5.7% higher at $3,128.99 on Wednesday and fell 0.35% in the after-hours session.
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