A press released published by FitBit last Wednesday finally confirmed its acquisition of the American smartwatch manufacturer Pebble Inc., following initial reports about this purchase made by the wearables market leader on November 30.
Fitbit acquired several assets from the Kickstarter-funded company, including “key personnel” and “intellectual property related to software,” the document reads.
However, they did not buy any hardware products from Pebble.
Fitbit closed the Pebble transaction yesterday, and many online sources are already calling on a possible monopoly over the smartwatch industry.
FitBit’s CEO gave his insight on the deal
James park, Fitbit’s CEO, said the company saw an opportunity to build on its strength and extend its leadership in the wearables market.
In a later interview, he also talked about the future of wearables, more specifically smartwatches, which are experiencing huge drops in sales. Customers seem to find them useless, many of them considering smartphones are more practical.
The fact that the smartwatch market is experiencing this downside does not mean that it will not work in the future if they tackle it with a different approach, Park said.
Welcoming Pebble to the Fitbit family, we’re excited to work with the team & carry their vision forward:https://t.co/IumxrJc9I7
— Fitbit (@fitbit) December 7, 2016
The CEO cited his history with FitBit and activity trackers to proof new concepts can come from these type of situations.
FitBit might be developing the “perfect” smartwatch
Park followed by highlighting he could not ascertain why most manufacturers were having trouble finding success with smartwatches, later pointing out a possible reason was that there wasn’t a model that combined everything good about a smartwatch in one package.
However, the acquisition of Pebble’s software platform, along with the recent purchase of payment technology startup Coin and Park’s recent comments on wearables point out to a shift in direction for the company that might mean putting out a new smartwatch concept.
The purchase of Pebble’s assets follows FitBit’s recent sales drop, with the company blaming their small numbers on various production issues and an ever-weakening demand for wearables.
Pebble experienced the same problems, albeit on a larger scale, which prompted them to accept FitBit’s deal and stop production altogether.
They released a lengthy blog post last Wednesday as well, stating they could no longer operate as an individual entity. The article enumerated the consequences, but not the causes, for this decision.
Source: The Verge
