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fitness activity tracker smartwatch dead future apple fitbit moto pebble
Business, Editorial, Watches, Wearable Technology

Moto Gone, Fitbit Down, Apple Unsure: What Is Happening With Wearables?

December 13, 2016

fitness activity tracker smartwatch dead future apple fitbit moto pebble

After years of false starts and stalled adoption, it was beginning to look like wearables were finally finding an audience. But the past week has brought nothing but sour news making one wonder if the connected devices are nothing but a fad. First Fitbit predicted a slow Holiday quarter, then Lenovo/Motorola announced the termination of the Moto 360, next Pebble shut down and sold off its assets for a pittance, and finally IDC released embarrassingly weak 3Q Apple Watch sales numbers. What is happening? Are wearables dead or is there more to it? While we might be a bit biased, we don’t see a reason for concern, yet. Let’s take a closer look at these headlines and the health of the industry as a whole.  

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by Doug Parker
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Pebble Shut Down Fitbit Acquire Assets Intellectual Property Smartwatch
Business, Watches, Wearable Technology

Fitbit Pebble Deal Final, Details Emerge As Sales Cease

December 7, 2016

Pebble Shut Down Fitbit Acquire Assets Intellectual Property Smartwatch

As rumored, Fitbit has officially finalized their buyout of Pebble. Though, using the term “buyout” or “purchase” seems a bit misleading. In fact, Pebble sent out an email today declaring that they were shutting down the company. The communication referred to Fitbit deciding to purchase “key assets.” Therefore, counter to the original rumor, Fitbit is not acquiring Pebble. Instead, Pebble closed shop today and Fitbit was first in line to buy any meaningful assets. While a small detail, this means that the financials at Pebble were likely far worst than predicted.

If we had to guess, similar to last summer, Pebble was desperate for more cash. Likely, they once again could not find the money through VC and this time were not able to get another bank loan. Their only option at that point would be to sell or close. Pretty much confirming that line of thinking, in an email from Pebble this morning it states that they “can no longer operate as an independent entity.” This is all pretty astounding for a company that turned down a purchase offer from Citizen for $740 million in early 2015 (not even 2 years ago). Recognizing the immediate need to sell, Pebble most likely could not find a purchaser willing to acquire all assets including debt, therefore the only sound business decision left was to shut down (business school 101: shutting down is always a viable option). Details are emerging on what assets Fitbit is purchasing and what Pebble’s closure means for customers and employees.  

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by Doug Parker
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Fitbit pebble acquisition buy merger smartwatch fitness tracker value price
Business, Watches, Wearable Technology

Fitbit’s Acquisition of Smartwatch Maker Pebble Is Smart – Here’s Why

December 2, 2016

Fitbit pebble acquisition buy merger smartwatch fitness tracker value price

With fitness trackers becoming more and more of a commodity item, it is no surprise that Fitbit would be looking to expand their business. The most logical space for the company to move towards is smartwatches, after all, a smartwatch is basically a souped up, more connected activity tracker. While the company has tested the market with two devices that straddle the line between a smartwatch and fitness tracker (the Surge and Blaze), they are too much of an in-between device. Despite costing as much as a smartwatch, they are both overly sporty looking and lack the level of connectivity needed to really function as a smartwatch. A smartwatch needs an intelligent and informative OS that has app-like functionality. Instead of venturing into the smartwatch world alone, it looks like Fitbit will acquire Pebble, producers of the Kickstarter funded e-paper smartwatches.  

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by Doug Parker
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fitbit stock slump earnings flex 2 charge alta quarter
Business, Wearable Technology

Why Fitbit Sales Lag Even As Company Introduces New Models

November 9, 2016

fitbit stock slump earnings flex 2 charge alta quarter

Over the past week, Fitbit’s (FIT) stock has lost over 30% of it’s value. The plunge happened at the end of last week after the fitness tracker company missed earnings estimates and tempered expectations for the Holidays. In the days since, shares of Fitbit have been unable to bounce back. While only missing estimated revenue by $3 Million, year-over-year income fell by almost 43%. This is despite introducing new models and aligning with both Kohl’s and Vera Wang. Even worse, for the vital Holiday quarter Fitbit is projecting revenue of $725 Million to $750 Million versus expectations of $925 Million. So what exactly is happening with Fitbit and what does this mean for the larger wearable market?  

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by Doug Parker
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Microsoft Band 2 discontinued wearable axed fitness tracker developer
Business, Software, Wearable Technology

Microsoft Suspends Development of Microsoft Band 3 UPDATED

October 3, 2016

Microsoft Band 2 discontinued wearable axed fitness tracker developer

UPDATED: According to ZDNet, Microsoft has sold through their remaining Band 2 inventory and has removed it from their online store. Also, the company has taken down the development kit for the Microsoft Band. We would expect the info page about the wearable to follow suit and soon be removed from the Microsoft website. While we knew Microsoft didn’t have a lot of faith left towards their activity tracker, it is surprising that the company planned to completely discontinue selling the Band when they just rebranded their health app from the generic “Microsoft Health” to the very product specific “Microsoft Band.”

 

Microsoft has reportedly ceased development of a third generation of its Microsoft Band. According to ZDNet, a few weeks ago the company disbanded a team working to port the Windows 10 platform to the wearable. Currently, versions 1 and 2 of the Microsoft Band run custom firmware. The move isn’t entirely surprising as Microsoft struggles to find an audience for Windows Mobile devices. In fact, MSPoweruser.com is reporting that Microsoft is pulling Windows Phones from company stores and WinBeta cites an anonymous employee as stating that the Lumia line of phones will be killed off by the end of the year. Since the Microsoft Band is designed primarily to interact with a Windows Mobile phone (non-Windows platforms are limited to a restricted feature set), with its ecosystem dwindling there is little logic in continuing to invest in Microsoft Band development. The software giant will continue to sell the Microsoft Band 2 at a discounted price of $175. Microsoft Health, the cross-platform cloud based health and fitness hub that the Band was designed to interact with, will continue to exist and, in fact, Microsoft is continuing to emphasize the service. But in a bizarre move the app has been renamed “Microsoft Band.”

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by Doug Parker
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Jet.com Amazon Walmart Quidsi Purchase Largest Acquisition e-commerce e-tailer
Business, Retail

Jet.com Purchased By Walmart for $3.3 Billion

August 8, 2016

Jet.com Amazon Walmart Quidsi Purchase Largest Acquisition e-commerce e-tailer

When Jet.com launched last July we predicted that the company had no illusions it would beat out rival Amazon.com. Instead, our conclusion was that Jet.com was a company launched with the intent of being purchased. Twelve months later, it seems we were on the right path. It was just announce that, after being rumored late last week, Walmart has purchased Jet.com for $3.3 billion. This marks one of the largest acquisitions of an e-commerce company ever (by companion Amazon purchased Jet.com founder’s previous business, Quidsi – think Soap.com, for $545 million). The ubiquitous big box store is purchasing the e-tailer startup to bolster their online shopping efforts, which despite being second, distantly behind Amazon, has seen sluggish growth as of late. The goal is to make the Walmart.com experience more seamless and to accelerate growth. Jet.com will continue to exist (for now) and CEO Marc Lore will continue to head it up.  

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by Doug Parker
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Basis Peak Intel Recall Overheating Shutdown Shutter Mandatory Burn Blister
Business, Watches, Wearable Technology

Intel Recalls All Basis Peak Smartwatches And Shutters Brand

August 5, 2016

Basis Peak Intel Recall Overheating Shutdown Shutter Mandatory Burn Blister

When the Basis Peak was released in the fall of 2014, it was one of the most appealing wearables on the market. Straddling the line between smartwatch and fitness tracker, the Peak was a comparative steal at $200. The device was able to receive notifications and alert you to phone calls, texts, and emails in addition to tracking your movement, sleep, and heart rate. But with the looming threat of the Apple Watch and a ton of competing products hitting the market at the same time, the Basis Peak had a tough time find an audience. But apparently that was the least of its issues.

Intel, who purchased Peak in mid-2014, has announced a full recall of all Basis Peak watches and accessories. It came to light in June that users were reporting the wearable would overheat and cause burns and blisters. At the time, Intel advised owners that a firmware update to address the issue would be released eminently and to abstain from using the device until then. With yesterday’s recall announcement, Intel released a statement that a software fix could not be found without crippling the device. The chip-maker is providing a full refund for all eligible products returned. To emphasize that this is a mandatory recall, Intel is shutting down all Basis services and servers by the end of the year. Intel is making it clear, if you have a Basis Peak, it will be bricked without the servers.  

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by Doug Parker
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