Amazon has decided to stop making and supporting its Halo fitness wearable products by the end of July, and will be trimming its workforce as a result.

The company says it will refund customer purchases made in the previous year.

“We are fully refunding customer purchases made in the preceding 12 months, and we are supporting impacted employees,” said a company statement.

The company will stop supporting Halo from July 31, 2023. Halo was launched in August 2020.

“We are incredibly proud of the invention and hard work that went into building Halo on behalf of our customers, and our priorities are taking care of our customers and supporting our employees,” the statement said.

Impacted employees in the USA and Canada have been notified. In other regions, it says it is following local processes, which may include time for consultation with employee representative bodies and possibly result in longer timelines to communicate with impacted employees.

“For employees who are impacted by this decision, we are providing packages that include a separation payment, transitional health insurance benefits, and external job placement support,” it said.

Affected customers have been sent an email that said in the coming weeks it would fully refund purchase(s) made in the preceding 12 months of Amazon Halo View, Halo Band, Halo Rise and Halo accessory bands. In addition, any unused prepaid Halo subscriptions fees will be refunded. Those who have a paid subscription will no longer be charged the monthly subscription fee.

Beginning on August 1, 2023, Halo devices and the Halo app will no longer function. Those who want to download or delete their Halo health data can do so from the settings page in the app. Users can also save scan images to their phone’s camera roll. Remaining Halo health data will be deleted after August 1, 2023.

The email encouraged users to recycle their Halo device and accessories through the firm’s recycling programme, through which Amazon will cover the costs associated with shipping and recycling devices and accessories.