Fitbit to reportedly buy smartwatch maker Pebble for 'small amount,' phase out product
Wearable fitness device giant Fitbit is reportedly on the verge of buying out, and subsequently shutting down, smartwatch upstart Pebble for what sources describe as a "small amount."
Citing sources familiar with the matter, The Information reports Fitbit's interest in Pebble stops at intellectual property like the company's in-house smartwatch operating system. For this reason, Fitbit will discontinue the Pebble brand if and when the deal goes through, the report said.
News of the potential acquisition is perhaps unsurprising given Pebble's current state of affairs. The smartwatch maker, once a favorite among early adopters, has in recent months been struggling to stay afloat.
Pebble made waves when its e-paper smartwatch project broke Kickstarter records in 2012. Following development, what is now known as the Pebble Classic debuted in 2013 and went on to see moderate success thanks in part to buzz surrounding the crowd funding campaign.
More recently, however, the company's latest smartwatch devices debuted to tepid demand. In May, second-generation versions of Pebble's black-and-white display Pebble and color display Time launched alongside a wearable fitness accessory called the Core. Pebble has yet to ship Time 2 and Core units to preorder customers.
As for Fitbit, the rumored Pebble purchase follows the May acquisition of mobile payments technology assets from Coin. The move signals Fitbit's intent to incorporate NFC payments technology into a future smartwatch product, likely to better compete with products from market rivals Apple and Jawbone.
While Fitbit dominates the basic fitness wearables market, the company faces stiff competition from tech giant Apple. Of note, Fitbit's attempts to break into the more lucrative smartwatch segment -- Blaze and Surge -- are similar in function to Apple Watch, but are simply unable to compete with Apple's watchOS platform and accompanying app ecosystem. The same can be said for Jawbone, which has seen its own financial woes in a post-Apple Watch wearables world.
In many ways, Apple Watch and popular Android Wear devices are forcing a consolidation of the wearables market, and Fitbit's supposed acquisition of Pebble is a result of this top-down pressure.
Citing sources familiar with the matter, The Information reports Fitbit's interest in Pebble stops at intellectual property like the company's in-house smartwatch operating system. For this reason, Fitbit will discontinue the Pebble brand if and when the deal goes through, the report said.
News of the potential acquisition is perhaps unsurprising given Pebble's current state of affairs. The smartwatch maker, once a favorite among early adopters, has in recent months been struggling to stay afloat.
Pebble made waves when its e-paper smartwatch project broke Kickstarter records in 2012. Following development, what is now known as the Pebble Classic debuted in 2013 and went on to see moderate success thanks in part to buzz surrounding the crowd funding campaign.
More recently, however, the company's latest smartwatch devices debuted to tepid demand. In May, second-generation versions of Pebble's black-and-white display Pebble and color display Time launched alongside a wearable fitness accessory called the Core. Pebble has yet to ship Time 2 and Core units to preorder customers.
As for Fitbit, the rumored Pebble purchase follows the May acquisition of mobile payments technology assets from Coin. The move signals Fitbit's intent to incorporate NFC payments technology into a future smartwatch product, likely to better compete with products from market rivals Apple and Jawbone.
While Fitbit dominates the basic fitness wearables market, the company faces stiff competition from tech giant Apple. Of note, Fitbit's attempts to break into the more lucrative smartwatch segment -- Blaze and Surge -- are similar in function to Apple Watch, but are simply unable to compete with Apple's watchOS platform and accompanying app ecosystem. The same can be said for Jawbone, which has seen its own financial woes in a post-Apple Watch wearables world.
In many ways, Apple Watch and popular Android Wear devices are forcing a consolidation of the wearables market, and Fitbit's supposed acquisition of Pebble is a result of this top-down pressure.
Comments
I've said before I like the Fitbit App, but not the lack of integration with HealthKit. I don't see my self buying another tracker that doesn't. I'd get an Apple Watch, but I'm still recovering from the MacBook Pro I just got.
Who saw this happening eventually?
Yeah. I figured Pebble was doomed the day Apple announced the Watch.
It was so glaringly obvious.
Apple called it iPhone because its superficial appearance was that of a smartphone without physical keys.
But the name was misleading and it threw off all would-be competitors who were in denial and hoped it would fail.
No. It wasn't just another "phone with apps." It was, and still is, a pocket computer that has a phone feature.
Massive difference. Competitors discovered this far too late. Apple had already built out the infrastructure for it.
It's what Apple does now. They work on the hardest, longest-term component first. Usually server-based.
Then when that infrastructure is ready (enough), they reveal the tip of the iceberg, as it were.
In this case it was iPhone on top of the iTunes infrastructure and now iCloud.
Competitors banged out copies of the hardware, with cheesy imitations of the OS.
But the lack of a robust iTunes / App Store infrastructure was fatal for most of them.
This happened all over again in 2010 when Apple released iPad. With no cell carrier subsidies.
Plenty of quick-and-dirty iPad wannabes appeared like weeds. Most of them disappeared just as quickly.
Remember the Hearst Skiff? Archos 9? Rocketfish Tablet? Fusion Garage JooJoo? HP Windows Slate?
Reference: http://www.technologizer.com/2011/09/30/ipad-alternatives-3/
Some otherwise intelligent tech writers dismiss Watch as just a digital watch with apps.
Exactly the same trap they, and would-be competitors, fell into when iPhone was released.
The name of the product colors the reviewers' and pundits' and even users' expectations.
Especially if they haven't tried it and lived with it for a few months.
But eventually Watch will leverage iCloud and our cellular communication infrastructure as iPhone does.
In ways we can't even imagine as outsiders who don't know Apple's long-term roadmap.
And don't forget - we're just at the primordial stage of "wearables" and the Internet of Things.
It will all evolve in a seemingly natural, inevitable way.
So yeah, as good as Watch is now, it'll just keep getting better.
Remember when pebble posted this? I lost respect for them after this. Every product a company creates they should take seriously.
I kept wearing the Surge on the other wrist until it fell to bits a year later. Apple Watch still like new.
I only kept using the Surge for the app and sleep tracking. There is an app called "Sync Solver" which imports Fitbit's data to Apple's Health app which was very handy.
Anyway, I found the Surge to be okay at first, but poor quality and longevity. The altimeter went stupid after a few months, sometimes saying I climbed 300 or 400 floors when I know I did 10 or 20. The band wore out between the holes where it latches (twice) so ended up too loose on my wrist for accurate heart rate monitoring. The band wore out where it joins the watch, top and bottom, where it ultimately broke and I threw it in the bin.
I don't know what the Blaze is like, but to me, Fitbit's are cheap junk and throwaway. Most wind up in a drawer after the novelty wears off anyway.
My gen 1 Apple Watch, still brilliant after 19 months.
EDIT: I wouldn't say cheap really either. Surge was $350 Australian and Apple Watch was $530. I know which was better value.