Can Google Compete With Apple Now That It Has Acquired Fitbit?

Google has just splashed US$2.1 billion to acquire Fitbit.

- Kenny Yeo

Fitbit wasn’t necessarily in trouble but it was certainly in a bit of a pickle. Apple has a vicelike grip on the high-end segment of the wearables market and there’s seems to be no end of cheap, almost disposable trackers coming out from China. To Fitbit’s credit, they have a large and loyal user base, but if it wanted to grow, it would need a huge injection of cash.

On the other hand, Google’s Wear OS is sputtering and probably needs a drastic rethink even if the software itself is actually quite decent. Samsung, the world’s second largest smartwatch brand, has long ditched Wear OS for its own Tizen OS; and Google’s largest partner, Fossil, only has a piddling 4.1% market share in North America in Q2 this year. There are rumours that Google is finally ready to take things into its own hands and make a Pixel watch.