Alphabet Expresses Interest in Buying Wearable Maker ‘Fitbit’
Last updated June 14, 2021
- Alphabet reportedly wants to buy Fitbit, the fitness tracker, and wireless wearables expert.
- Google is most probably planning to enter the wearables market, and to compete with Apple Watch.
- Already, the company has agreements with Fossil, a smartwatch maker who has been working with Google since 2018.
Alphabet Inc., the California-based conglomerate of companies, subsidiaries, services, and products which was created by Google to own the tech giant, is looking to buy Fitbit Inc. The news saw the share price of the activity trackers and wireless communication wearables maker to skyrocket by 30.86%. The obvious message here is that Google is looking to create something to compete with Apple Watch, a product that has been catalyzing the smartwatch market for years now. Now, the question is, is Fitbit capable of achieving the feat?
As a fitness tracker creator, Fitbit is one of the most trusted brands out there. Their hardware is good quality, their software works seamlessly, and the accuracy of measurements leaves nothing to be desired. However, the company has been under great pressure from more cost-effective proposals from Huawei and Xiaomi that entered the market in the last couple of years. The company did try to carve their own route in the wearables market, seeking partnerships with national healthcare insurers and trying to find their own unique role in a changing market that they pioneered. However, in July, the first signs of problems appeared, with the company cutting its revenue forecast due to the low sales of its latest models.
These difficulties don’t take away anything from Fitbit’s expertise and ability to create quality fitness trackers, and Google ogles their assets at this point. However, this is not the first time that Google is eyeing a wearables expert. Fossil Inc. has also announced its intention to sell their smartwatch technology to Google for $40 million. If you remember, the two companies have been closely collaborating since last year. Google hasn’t made any announcements about that or Fitbit, so the actual plans for these acquisitions haven’t been publicly laid out yet.
At this point, we rely on Reuters to report the above, and it is important to clarify that we’re talking about unconfirmed rumors. As we have seen it happen again, rumors change share prices and market capitalization, provide new negotiating platforms for the parties, and can lead to setbacks or even the complete failure of the deal. Finally, we hope that Google will actually make good use of Fitbit’s innovative engineers and that they won’t use them as a means to copy the products and services of competitors. This has led them to fail multiple times before and even forced them to the receiving end of business focus criticism from former employees.
Are your hopes high, or do you believe the deal is unlikely to go through? Let us know of your opinion in the comments down below, or on our socials, on Facebook and Twitter.
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