While announcing Fitbit’s preliminary fourth-quarter results, Fitbit’s CEO revealed that the company is working on a brand new smartwatch. Fitbit has made a number of smartwatch-like fitness trackers before, with the Fitbit Blaze being among the more recent of those, although they still tend to fall more on the fitness tracker side of things, than the smartwatch side of things. Either way and while smartwatches from other companies are not exactly selling like hotcakes, the statement made by the company’s CEO, James Park, indicates that Fitbit is ready to shift some of its resources to a more smartwatch-focused design. Park believes that the company is in a “unique” position to succeed in delivering a smartwatch that serves as a smartwatch, while also focusing on “health and fitness”. The statement goes on to cite deals that Fitbit has made over the past several months – including the recent acquisition of Vector Watch – as having been key factors in the decision.
The company itself was founded in 2007 and its entire business model has been based around wearable fitness devices since its inception and its first Fitbit Tracker device. Fitbit’s health and fitness devices are among the best-selling and most well-known wearables. Therefore, Fitbit is no stranger to the wearables market. However, smartwatches are generally expected to do more and provide more connectivity than any of the company’s previous offerings and as such it will be interesting to see what comes from a Fitbit smartwatch-focused wearable. Park’s most recent statement also falls squarely in line with other, more niche-specific approaches to smartwatches, suggesting that the company is confident enough within the fitness tracking niche to create a smartwatch that falls within the company’s established market, while meeting general consumer expectations. As fitness wearables tend to sell very well by comparison to current smartwatches, a Fitbit smartwatch could be well-placed to sell far better than others that have a more general design and purpose.
Such comments from the CEO would also seem to indicate that the company is already at least in the planning stages for a smartwatch, although no further information was provided. As a result, there is currently no firm indications on what a Fitbit smartwatch might offer, or in fact, how far it is away from becoming available.