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So the thing surprising about this is that Fitbit's stock just took a nosedive, their financials are questionable (but maybe the holidays will be good to them a
by Negative1 10y ago
So the thing surprising about this is that Fitbit's stock just took a nosedive, their financials are questionable (but maybe the holidays will be good to them again) and they're acquiring a company in a market where there is a clear leader (Apple) but as whole, the market itself appears to have hit a peak or is in decline.
Even if they got a steal the whole things seems like a bizarre move. At best they integrate Pebble into their lineup, get some good brain power in SV (they are HQed in MA I believe) and build out their future products with Pebble's finely tuned developer ecosystem (their opensource SDK is amazing). At worst, they go down in flames and in the fire sale they fetch a little more for owning Pebble IP.
- fragmede 10y ago> and they're acquiring a company in a market where there is a clear leader (Apple) If you have to spell it out, they might not be the clear leader. The Apple watch is missing a glaring feature - compatibility with Android phones (Android Wear has the reverse issue). That alone makes it the Apple watch a non-starter for a large number of people with smartphones, and "people with smartphones" is the target market. Fitbit and Pebble are the biggest two smartphone OS-independent smartwatch producers that spring to my mind.
- tf2manu994 10y agoAndroid Wear works with iPhones, Apple watch does not work with Android
- sulam 10y agoI can't comment on most of this for obvious reasons, but our HQ is in SF. We do have a Boston office, and it's our second largest, but we have two other offices too. Of course everyone is looking to hire more talent, whether it's in SV or elsewhere.
- fudged71 10y agoFitbit will get sold soon, as far as I can tell.