Nike is abandoning its FuelBand fitness tracker as a hardware product but will continue to develop software for wearables, CEO Mark Parker told CNBC on Friday.

The announcement confirmed a rumor from a week ago that the company was winding down production of the FuelBand, first reported by CNET.

In recent weeks, Nike had reportedly let go most of those employees who were responsible for working on FuelBand hardware—approximately 70 to 80 percent of its 70-member FuelBand working group.

"We are focusing more on the software side of the experience," Parker told CNBC on Friday. "I think we will be part of wearables going forward. It will be integrated into other products that we create and that we're looking at expanding our partnerships to create more reach for the Nike Fuel and Fuel system that we have."

There has been speculation that Nike is exiting the wearable hardware business in the face of stiffer competition from tech companies with more experience in the industry and resources devoted towards developing devices.

Parker did emphasize that Nike will continue to build the Fuel software platform for wearables.

"Our goal is to actually increase the number of users, those that can actually experience Nike Fuel and the Fuel system ... as well as other applications, so you're going to see us continue to commit to this area," he told CNBC.

The Nike CEO also maintained that Nike will maintain a strong partnership with Apple going forward—more than a year-and-a-half after launching the FuelBand as an iOS-syncing device, the company has yet to release an Android version.

Asked by CNBC if Nike and Apple would collaborate on a future wearable device, Parker said he understand there has been a lot of speculation about such a project but declined to confirm it.

For more, check out PCMag's review of the Nike+ FuelBand SE.