Google’s parent company Alphabet is certainly betting big on the fitness tracker and wearables market. Months after buying Fossil’s intellectual property related to its smartwatch technology, Fitbit Inc, the US manufacturer of wearable devices may be up for acquisition by Alphabet, as per a Reuters report.
Fitbit models are more described as fitness trackers rather than as smartwatches and the brand has a vast user base across the wearable’s spectrum. Google will be aiming to expand its hardware offerings beyond the Pixel range of smartphones and the Home speakers.
Fitbit is forced to contend with competition in the marketplace from players like Huawei and Xiaomi. While Fitbit is one of the most popular fitness trackers, these Chinese giants beat Fitbit on the price front.
Fitbit has a model Versa. This is a smartwatch and is priced at $200. The company has then released another cheaper model to this and calls it Versa Lite, priced at just $160. The idea is to offer the basic services and features, like measuring steps, burning calories and measuring sleep duration etc.
It is said the company had been looking for a “partner” to invest in it. Health is one area the company has worked on and tied up with health insurance companies as well. The health data that it has collected through its app over the years has an inherent market value and might help it bargain for a better price during the negotiations. The company had earlier claimed that it has signed an agreement with the government of Singapore for supply of 1 million units of its fitness tracker.
There is no official word on this takeover rumour from any of the players involved.
There is already an announcement by another company in the same space, the Fossil Group which had said it was selling its IP rights on the smartwatch technology to Google for a consideration of $40 million.