Google Wants to Acquire Fitbit
Reuters reports that Google is in talks to acquire struggling wearables maker Fitbit, and has made an offer to do so.
There are few details at the time of this writing, but CNBC reports that Fitbit’s stock was halted after skyrocketing more than 18 percent today when news of the talks was broadcast.
Fitbit said a month ago that it was exploring a sale after its efforts to catch up with Apple in the smartwatch market stalled. Google was named at the time as one of the possible suitors, and that matchup makes sense: Google’s own smartwatch effort, called WearOS (originally Android Wear), has likewise stalled in the market.
Fitbit still has a dominant position in the fitness wearables market, but its Versa smartwatch line, while nicely designed, lacks some advanced features that the more expensive Apple Watch offers. Its latest model, the low-cost Versa Lite, has sold poorly.