At some point, connected fitness company Peloton (NASDAQ: PTON) needs to decide what it wants to be. Is it a luxury fitness equipment company selling to those who don't think twice about dropping thousands of dollars on shiny new products? Or is a mainstream fitness company looking to grow its subscriber base into the tens of millions?

With CEO Barry McCarthy taking over earlier this year, it seemed like Peloton was moving toward becoming a mainstream brand. McCarthy set his sights on eventually having 100 million paying members. That's not a goal that's to possible achieve if subscriptions are tied to expensive exercise equipment.

Peloton's announcement on Tuesday that it was launching the Peloton Row, the company's first rowing machine, is downright baffling. Peloton is drowning in inventory it can't sell. Demand for its bikes and treadmills has collapsed. Peloton's hardware revenue declined by 55% year over year in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2022 to $295.6 million, and the company is sitting on $1.1 billion worth of inventory.

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Source Fool.com