Fitbit Planning To Kill Pebble Watches

(RTTNews) - Wearable fitness device maker Fitbit Inc. (FIT) said it has acquired the assets of struggling smartwatch startup Pebble, including key personnel and intellectual property related to software and firmware development. The acquisition excludes Pebble's hardware products.

While financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, Bloomberg reported that the acquisition was for less than $40 million. The transaction was completed on December 6.

According to Fitbit, the acquisition will accelerate the development of customized solutions and third party applications for Fitbit Group Health customers and partners, including researchers, employers and providers.

James Park, CEO and co-founder of Fitbit said, "With basic wearables getting smarter and smartwatches adding health and fitness capabilities, we see an opportunity to build on our strengths and extend our leadership position in the wearables category."

Separately, Pebble said that it is not longer able to operate as an independent company due to various factors. The company, which has shipped more than 2 million devices since launching in 2012, will no longer promote, manufacture or sell any devices.

"We have made the tough decision to shut down the company and no longer manufacture Pebble devices," Pebble founder and CEO Eric Migicovsky said.

Pebble said that orders from pebble.com will no longer be accepted or fulfilled, including Pebble 2 pre-orders. Upcoming devices, including Pebble Time 2 and Pebble Core smartwatches, will be canceled. The company will issue refunds to Kickstarter crowdfunding backers.

Further, Pebble said that "many members of Team Pebble will be joining the Fitbit family to continue their work on wearable software platforms."

Fitbit entered into the smartwatches category this year by introducing the Fitbit Blaze smart fitness watch. In early November, the company forecast earnings for the fourth quarter and full year below analysts' estimates.