Google’s parent company Alphabet is in talks to purchase wearable company Fitbit, Reuters reports. Currently, there is no confirmation that the agreement will take place.
According to sources close with the talks, it is not known how much Alphabet has proposed to acquire the US-based company.
The news accompanies a report last month from CNBC that Fitbit was in the means of exploring a sale.
Google’s Role in the Wearable Market
Google has worked a part in the wearable market for many years with its Wear OS operating system.
That being said, the tech giant still was not able to compete with the Apple Watch, despite getting help from a wide range of firms, like LG, Fossil, and TicWatch.
Also, Samsung, a significant Android manufacturer, has evaded Wear OS in favor of its Tizen operating system.
In January, Google spent $40 million to acquire some smartwatch technology from Fossil. However, it is unclear what that technology was.
A Fossil official described it as a “new product innovation that has not yet tapped the market,” and so far as we understand, it still has not.
There have been determined rumors over the years that Google has been engaged in launching a Google-branded Pixel smartwatch.
At one time in 2016, these plans nearly resulted in a Google smartwatch getting a release.
Though the company reportedly axed these plans over matters that the watches could “bring down the title of the Google hardware brand.
“These LG-manufactured smartwatches later launched as the LG Watch Sport and LG Watch Style in 2017 to average reviews.
Since then, Google’s first-party hardware aspirations have grown considerably.
It obtained a part of HTC’s smartphone engineering team back in 2017 to operate on its Pixel phones.
And a Fitbit acquisition could enable it to make a comparable first-party push in the wearables area.
Fitbit VS Apple Watch: The Journey Till Now
Apple’s experience with the Apple Watch, meantime, implies that health is fast growing a killer-app for smartwatches.
And it’s in an area that Fitbit has been more focused on for its fitness trackers.
However, Fitbit’s track record with smartwatches is more uneven, despite acquiring smartwatch maker Pebble in 2016.
For example, the Fitbit Versa 2, which was issued earlier this year, was a good fitness tracker but an ordinary smartwatch.
Google and Fitbit refused to talk to Reuters on the report.
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