Earlier this month, Peloton got a new CEO — former Netflix and Spotify CFO Barry McCarthy. It came at the end of a turbulent time for the company, along with some awkward on-air moments featuring Peloton’s gear. Since that news was announced, some have wondered what that would actually entail, given that outgoing CEO and company founder John Foley was remaining with the company in the role of executive chairman.
Now, via an interview McCarthy gave to The New York Times‘ DealBook, we have a better idea of what Peloton has in store for subscribers and potential subscribers in the the near future.
It’s worth stating from the outset that McCarthy emphasized throughout that these were potential directions for the company — to be more specific, he used the word “could” a lot. He addressed the idea of joint ventures – and while he emphasized that he was open to them, he was less sure of the specifics. “Which ones? I don’t know,” he said.
“Should we do a co-branded thing with Adidas and with retail? There’s a big opportunity in apparel — we do $250 million revenue in apparel,” he added.
McCarthy also suggested that the array of applications running on Peloton’s software could see substantial changes. “Today, it’s a closed platform — but it could be an open platform and part of the creator economy,” he told DealBook. “What other apps would you put on it? Could it be running an app store?”
One other idea that came up involved changing subscription costs; instead of someone buying a bike and then paying a lower monthly subscription fee, he raised the possibility of raising the monthly fee but including the price of the equipment. “It’s probably, instead of $39, it’s maybe $70 or $80,” he told the Times. “And then the upfront cost is dramatically lower.”
Which of these predictions (if any) will come true in the coming months and years? It’ll be fascinating to see it play out.
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