I find it difficult to accept that the CEO may go on to advise startups at YC while Pebble's employees (and customers) get the short end of the stick. Doesn't seem like there's much consequence for this kind of failure.
Fitbit Is Close to Buying Software Assets from Pebble
41–50 of 55 posts
Re: Fitbit Is Close to Buying Software Assets from Pebble
#42Earlier quoted context omitted.
> 'Failing' in what sense? Stock down more than 70% year-to-date, and competing in a market that is rapidly becoming commoditized. Perhaps "failing" is a a strong word, but I wouldn't describe them more positively than "struggling." Like GoPro, Fitbit sells commodity hardware and is not greatly differentiated from its competitors in terms of hardware, software, or platform lock-in (you may disagree, but the consumer…
Their hardware and marketing are good, but software not so much - which is where magic happens. Completely agree that when it comes to software and user experience - Fitbit feels like a 'commodity'. The 30% fall was mainly triggered by Fitbit revising revenue estimates for Q4 from 985M to somewhere around 725M as well as Q3 performing poorer than expected. What's fascinating is that Fitbit is still going to do about…
> Completely agree that when it comes to software and user experience - Fitbit feels like a 'commodity'.
I don't just mean that. I mean that anybody with business contacts in China could make equivalent fitness-tracking hardware. The barrier to entry for new competitors is very low.
Fitbit needs to be able to prevent a bunch of new competitors from coming out of the woodwork and stealing their marketshare.
Re: Fitbit Is Close to Buying Software Assets from Pebble
#43The key focus of this acquisition seems to be the acquisition of assets (read 'IP'). Fitbit has had a rough time battling Jawbone in court (though ironically Jawbone has been the sufferer in the market while Fitbit revenue keeps going up). I feel that has made them cautious about IP and this is the second acquisition (after Coin) that's been purely focussed on acquiring IP so that: 1. Others can't acquire and sue the…
What have pebble and coin done to get this IP? Just had enough patent lawyers around to patent stuff they happen to be working on ("Method of having an e-ink watchface")?
You usually acquire IP by inventing something, and then filing for patents based on the invention, if that's what you're asking.
To be fair, I don't think Pebble was aspiring to be acquired by Fitbit for their IP. They turned down a huge acquisition offer, presumably on the notion of getting bigger. This was just a fire sale which barely returned money to debt holders (and maybe some to investors).
Same thing with Coin. In fact, Fitbit only acquired a portion of that company.
Re: Fitbit Is Close to Buying Software Assets from Pebble
#44Microsoft should buy pebble. This will give a nice kick to wearables program
It doesn't look like Wearables are a priority for Microsoft at all. Given the recent slump in that market, I don't think they're getting FOMO either.
Re: Fitbit Is Close to Buying Software Assets from Pebble
#45Earlier quoted context omitted.
> 'Failing' in what sense? Stock down more than 70% year-to-date, and competing in a market that is rapidly becoming commoditized. Perhaps "failing" is a a strong word, but I wouldn't describe them more positively than "struggling." Like GoPro, Fitbit sells commodity hardware and is not greatly differentiated from its competitors in terms of hardware, software, or platform lock-in (you may disagree, but the consumer…
Their hardware and marketing are good, but software not so much - which is where magic happens. Completely agree that when it comes to software and user experience - Fitbit feels like a 'commodity'. The 30% fall was mainly triggered by Fitbit revising revenue estimates for Q4 from 985M to somewhere around 725M as well as Q3 performing poorer than expected. What's fascinating is that Fitbit is still going to do about…
PS: I can't reply to the followup post to this post, so answering here. If you go to CES, you'll find a hundred companies that make a fitness band (I did, last year). None of them have Fitbit's branding and name recognition (which is very non-trivial to create).
Re: Fitbit Is Close to Buying Software Assets from Pebble
#46This is really sad; Pebble had probably the best products on the smartwatch market, and I'll be disappointed to see them go.
They were the only smartwatch manufacturer that could claim anything close to 10 days of battery life. They were the only smartwatch manufacturer that made devices that were water resistant and really meant it. (That is, they're all rated to 3-5 ATM and tested the same way regular watches are, you can actually use them in chlorinated or salt water, and they didn't try to claim that your "water resistant" device's warranty was void if you got it wet.) They were the only smartwatch manufacturer that made devices that had an always-on display that's actually any good (with the possible exception of the just-released Gear S3; I've yet to see one in person but it sounds like Samsung are getting there). It's a small thing, but they were also the only smartwatch manufacturer that didn't take themselves too seriously, filling their UI with cute icons and animations that made the watch fun to use. All that, and their products were significantly more affordable than some of their competition.
Re: Fitbit Is Close to Buying Software Assets from Pebble
#47This is really sad; Pebble had probably the best products on the smartwatch market, and I'll be disappointed to see them go. They were the only smartwatch manufacturer that could claim anything close to 10 days of battery life. They were the only smartwatch manufacturer that made devices that were water resistant and really meant it. (That is, they're all rated to 3-5 ATM and tested the same way regular watches are,…
"They were the only smartwatch manufacturer that could claim anything close to 10 days of battery life."
My Suunto can go weeks between charges (with GPS not in use). Even with full feature usage, it's supposed to go 200+ hours.
Re: Fitbit Is Close to Buying Software Assets from Pebble
#48This is really sad; Pebble had probably the best products on the smartwatch market, and I'll be disappointed to see them go. They were the only smartwatch manufacturer that could claim anything close to 10 days of battery life. They were the only smartwatch manufacturer that made devices that were water resistant and really meant it. (That is, they're all rated to 3-5 ATM and tested the same way regular watches are,…
"They were the only smartwatch manufacturer that could claim anything close to 10 days of battery life." My Suunto can go weeks between charges (with GPS not in use). Even with full feature usage, it's supposed to go 200+ hours.
Same but I wouldn't classify my ambit 2 as a smart watch tho.
Re: Fitbit Is Close to Buying Software Assets from Pebble
#49This is really sad; Pebble had probably the best products on the smartwatch market, and I'll be disappointed to see them go. They were the only smartwatch manufacturer that could claim anything close to 10 days of battery life. They were the only smartwatch manufacturer that made devices that were water resistant and really meant it. (That is, they're all rated to 3-5 ATM and tested the same way regular watches are,…
"They were the only smartwatch manufacturer that could claim anything close to 10 days of battery life." My Suunto can go weeks between charges (with GPS not in use). Even with full feature usage, it's supposed to go 200+ hours.
Which one? Also, is that with a connection to your phone or data service so you get push notifications? Can you run custom apps on it?
My quick perusal of Suunto's site seems to indicate their watches are more like a fancy fitbit then a smart watch.
Re: Fitbit Is Close to Buying Software Assets from Pebble
#50If this goes through, best of luck to everyone from Pebble and Fitbit. Hardware is tough, but we all need it.
Can anyone think of an example where you take two failing tech companies, merge them, and it works out?
Someone I worked with once described this as "trying to start a farm with a dead horse and a dead cow"