It’s the way of the modern tech world that the giants in the industry love to assimilate smaller companies that offer something that they want. In 2021, Google looked over at Fitbit, which made fitness trackers and smartwatches and decided to pull the trigger and acquire the company.
Some people are big fans of Fitbit’s products and even stayed on board after the Google acquisition. Sadly, if you’re one of those people and you particularly loved the company’s smartwatches, those shall soon be no more as Google plans to prioritize its Pixel watches.
Google Is Putting Fitbit Smartwatches Through An Extinction Event, Pixel Watch Will Be The Only Child
If there’s one thing that I hate about acquisitions, it’s when a large tech company acquires a smaller one that offers a great product and eventually kills it (to some degree). That’s what is happening now with Fitbit’s smartwatches, as Google’s senior director of product management for Pixel Wearables, Sandeep Waraich, has essentially confirmed.
Thanks to an interview done by the folks over at Engadget, we have a bit of insight into the future of the Pixel Watch and Fitbit smartwatches. Waraich said that the “Pixel Watch is our smartwatch part of the portfolio”, and considering that there hasn’t been a Fitbit smartwatch released since 2022, we can consider that statement to be the death knell for the other brand’s watches.
At the very least, you will still be able to buy the Fitbit Versa 4 and Fitbit Sense 2 as they haven’t been yanked from the market, but all signs point to the fact that this will be the last time that you can get a smartwatch with Fitbit branding.
In A Way, Google Drank From Fitbit Tech To Make Its Pixel Watch Lineup Even Better
If the death of Fitbit smartwatches makes you sad, you’ll probably not want to hear how Google used Fitbit’s expertise when it comes to analyzing heart rate sensor data, combined it with Google’s machine learning and AI prowess, and combined those to level up the Pixel Watch products.
There isn’t much wrong with that, as it is part of the benefit of acquisitions. However, it would have been nice if Fitbit had also gotten some of that love back and made newer smartwatches that were just as good. Google didn’t want to share the spotlight though.
The Silver Lining Is That The Fitbit Fitness Trackers Will Still Live To See Another Day
Worry not though. As significant as this news is for the Fitbit brand, it will still be sticking around for a very long time and should continue to develop its fitness tracker portfolio. It’s hard to say that any other brand is as established when it comes to fitness trackers as Fitbit is, so that side of the business is sure to remain treasured.
Perhaps streamlining the company’s focus on fitness trackers will be for the better to. It reduces the internal conflict between Google and Fitbit’s smartwatches and gives each brand a different market to do its best to dominate.
