Google Buys Fitbit For $2.1 Billion: Here’s What It Means

Fitbit is now to be part of Google’s range of companies. After days of rumors and reports, Fitbit has been acquired by Google for $2.1 billion.

Fitbit has been in the curious position of being hugely admired and strongly popular but also squeezed by rivals. Apple’s Watch is very successful in the higher end of the market while brands like Xiaomi are undercutting Fitbit’s trackers.

Apple has also taken the fight to Fitbit: its Apple Watch Series 3 is now just $199, meaning it’s cheaper than the latest smartwatch from Fitbit, the Versa 2.

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So, what will happen now?

After all, Fitbit bought a smaller rival, Pebble, back in 2016 and that brand has now gone. Well, this won’t be the same as that. Google has yet to make its own smartwatch hardware, though a Pixel Watch has been widely hoped for and even predicted for years, but was conspicuously absent from the recent hardware unveiling event.

And there’s no doubt Google is interested in the wearables sector: it bought intellectual property related to smartwatches back in January from Fossil, though for a rather smaller figure: $40 million.

Then there’s the fact that some people think Google’s wearable operating system, Wear OS, could do with some improvement, and Fitbit has more expertise in this area than anyone except Apple. Certainly, Google has been unable to mimic in smartwatches what it did in smartphones, that is, start well behind Apple and leapfrog the Cupertino giant in terms of user base, for instance.

Plus, there’s Fitbit’s hardware which is well-liked and has a distinctive look and styling. Fitbit has the great benefit that it controls both hardware and software for its gadgets, something which Google may like, though Google will doubtless continue to make Wear OS available on rival brands’ smartwatches, too.

Even so, it seems future Fitbits will run Wear OS. James Park, Fitbit CEO, said “"With Google's resources and global platform, Fitbit will be able to accelerate innovation in the wearables category, scale faster and make health even more accessible to everyone.” A focus on health again, you see.

At the very least, it means one fewer competitor with its own OS: Samsung’s smartwatches sell way better than Fitbit, and use Samsung’s own Tizen system, despite rumors that a Wear OS Galaxy watch would appear - it hasn’t.

However, iPhone users won’t be left out. He also said: “Fitbit will continue to remain platform-agnostic across both Android and iOS.”

You only have to look at Apple Watch to see how health-focused, as opposed to fitness-focused, wearables have become. Fitbit’s acquisition of healthcare-related companies will be useful to Google, too.

The acquisition is set to complete next year.

Fitbit has stressed that privacy is still important, stressing in the blog post where the price was revealed that “The company never sells personal information, and Fitbit health and wellness data will not be used for Google ads.”

Fitbit’s expertise and handsome hardware skills make it highly appealing to Google which perhaps lacks both when it comes to health-oriented wearables.

I don’t think the Fitbit brand will vanish – though it could become Google Fitbit in the way that Nest is now Google Nest.

For sure, it indicates a different direction for Google. Instead of using its software and putting it in other brands’ hardware, such as Fossil and Emporio Armani, it means that a Wear OS powered Fitbit could have the best of both worlds.

And maybe, just maybe, we won’t have to wait too much longer for a Pixel Watch.

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