GOOGLE’S ALPHABET, Currently In Talks To Buy Fitbit!

GOOGLE’S ALPHABET REPORTEDLY IN TALKS TO ACQUIRE FITBIT

US: Router reports claim Google’s Alphabet is currently in serious talks to buy wearable company ‘Fitbit’. Though at the moment it’s not clear if the deal will definitely translate to Alphabet’s intent, while on the other hand, there isn’t confirmation of known figure offered by Alphabet to acquire the company, which Router cited as anonymous sources familiar with the deal.

If the deal eventually materializes, it will strengthen Google’s position in the wearable field, Fitbit has been struggling despite its effort around its device and operating system. Google’s Wear OS only focuses on the smartwatch market, however, it’s also understood many of these fitness tracking devices have a built-in third-party app or that of the Google – Fit app. Lately, Fitbit has stepped up its smartwatch functionality, precisely features emerging from its latest Versa product.

In another dimension, Google Wear OS has also struggled to compete with Apple Watch, despite supports from a wide range of companies, such as Fossil, LG, and TicWatch. Surprisingly is Samsung, known as a major Android manufacturer who purposely uses its own Tizen operating system instead of Wear OS from Google.  

It’s also understood prior to Google’s Alphabet reports in the wearable field, Fitbit lowered the price of some of its devices which saw the company launch a new subscription plan known as Fitbit Premium. This gave in-depth insights about sleep, fitness and overall health analysis. 

Also, it’s been figured out that health is practically a killer-app for smartwatches, and this area has given Apple Watch – an edge over other products. Coincidentally, this area has been Fitbit’s primary focus which is seen in its Versa 2 that was released earlier this year – a great fitness tracker but still an average smartwatch.

Lately, Google has been pushing hard in the area of smartwatch, earlier this year Google acquired some kind of smartwatch technology from Fossil. A “new product innovation that is not yet hit the market”, Fossil executive claimed. However, in 2017, Google acquired a portion of HTC’s smartphone engineering team to work on its Pixel phones, so a Fitbit acquisition could potentially see Google compete favorably in the wearable space.

This development saw Fitbit’s stock spiked more than 30% at one point in intraday trading.

• What more do we know about Google’s Alphabet talks with Fitbit?