In a bid to extend its footprints into the smartwatch market, Google has reportedly made Wearable company, Fitbit an acquisition offer. However, the deal is still being negotiated, so details are currently unclear.
Although Google has played a part in the wearable market for years with its Wear OS operating system, it has struggled to compete with the likes of Apple Watch and Samsung. Samsung even reportedly avoided partnering with Wear OS in favour of its own Tizen operating system.
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What this means: If the acquisition of Fitbit by Google comes together, Google stands a chance to position itself strongly in the wearables space, an area where the search giant has struggled despite its efforts around smartwatches and Wear OS.
Prior to this, Google has gotten support from a wide range of wearable companies including LG, Fossil, and TicWatch to run its own smartwatch on its software, however, it has not been a huge success as Google lacks the platform to upgrade it in line with what the market wants.
Fitbit, on the other hand, has been upgrading its smartwatch features in line with the demands of the market, therefore, Google adding Fitbit to its portfolio will help in strengthening Google’s smartwatch features.
Also, acquiring Fitbit would fit into Google’s overall hardware strategy, now that it is building its own phones and other devices.
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About Fitbit: Founded in 2007, Fitbit, is an American company headquartered in San Francisco, California. The company’s products include activity trackers, wireless-enabled wearable technology devices that measure data such as the number of steps walked, heart rate, quality of sleep, steps climbed, and other personal metrics involved in fitness. The Fitbit smartwatch is known for offering a handful of guided exercise routines for one to automatically time them when training.
