Fitbit confirms it is building a smartwatch
We’ve finally had official word on what we’ve long suspected – a Fitbit smartwatch is coming soon.
Following its acquisition of Pebble and Vector (pictured above), as well as the Coin payments platform, there was no shortage of rumours the San Francisco company is looking to enter the smartwatch space. Whether the new device(s) is based on existing products from their acquisitions, or if Fitbit decides to design something entirely new, remains to be seen.
“We believe the evolving wearables market continues to present growth opportunities for us that we will capitalize on by investing in our core product offerings, while expanding into the smartwatch category to diversify revenue and capture share of the over $10 billion global smartwatch market,” James Park, Fitbit CEO said in a statement.
“We believe we are uniquely positioned to succeed in delivering what consumers are looking for in a smartwatch: stylish, well-designed devices that combine the right general purpose functionality with a focus on health and fitness. With the recent acquisition of assets from Pebble, Vector Watch and Coin, we are taking action to position the company for long-term success.”
Park revealed earlier the company is planning to build an app store “as soon as possible”.
So far, the closest Fitbit has come to building a smartwatch is its Blaze activity tracker. But, while the Blaze has many of the features you’d find on a smartwatch, it does not support any third party apps. Our guess is, Fitbit will come out with a feature-packed device, with in-depth notification features, fitness tracking, payments and design options.
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All of this is coming amidst a slowdown in sales for the leading global wearables manufacturer. The company’s shares plunged more than 10% yesterday on news that Q4 revenues will fall around $150bn short of expectations, coming in at around $580bn. The San Francisco outfit also revealed it is cutting 110 jobs or 6% of its global workforce.
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