Even Biden Uses the Popular Indoor Bike 'Peloton'... 4Q Sales Surpass $1 Billion for the First Time

COVID-19 Benefit Leads to Surge in Sales

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] Peloton, the indoor bicycle known to be favored by U.S. President Joe Biden, surpassed $1 billion in sales for the first time in the fourth quarter. Dubbed the Netflix of home training, Peloton experienced rapid growth benefiting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Bloomberg on the 4th (local time), Peloton recorded sales of $1.06 billion (approximately 1.1856 trillion KRW) in the fourth quarter of 2020 (Korean standard), exceeding $1 billion for the first time in a single quarter. This figure surpassed market expectations of $1.03 billion and represented a 128% increase compared to the same period last year.

Peloton is a home training device equipped with a microphone and webcam, allowing users to interact with instructors through a tablet screen while exercising. It does not simply sell exercise equipment but also provides content that users can enjoy during workouts via the tablet. This is why it is called the Netflix of home training.

The number of subscribers also increased significantly. In the fourth quarter, Peloton's subscriber count rose 134% year-over-year to 1.67 million. As a result, Peloton now has over 4.4 million cumulative users.

Peloton is considered a representative company that benefited from COVID-19. Due to the pandemic, indoor sports facilities were closed, and people had no choice but to exercise at home, leading to a surge in sales over the past year. In the first quarter of last year, sales reached $524.6 million, a 66% increase compared to the same period the previous year. In the second and third quarters, sales grew by 172% and 232%, reaching $671 million and $758 million, respectively.

However, recently, Peloton has been unable to keep up with the influx of orders, leading to pessimistic performance forecasts. In November, during Black Friday, the company announced it would not hold separate discount sales. This decision was made to reduce customer inconvenience caused by delayed product deliveries amid already overwhelming orders.

To address this, Peloton announced it will invest over $100 million in logistics and delivery improvements, including air freight, over the next six months.

Peloton explained the investment background, stating, "This investment will reduce short-term profitability, but prioritizing customer satisfaction is our main goal."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.