Google owner Alphabet has made an offer to buy Fitbit, Reuters reports. It looks like Google is eyeing the wearable market and a Fitbit acquisition would allow the company to take on Apple, Samsung and other players in a brand new sector. Google already makes its own smartphones, but the company is yet to offer a Google-branded smartwatch.
According to the report by Reuters, there is no certainty that the talks between Google and Fitbit will lead to any deal. There is also no word on how much Google has offered to buy to Fitbit. Both companies declined to comment on the report.
Google’s presence in the wearable market is on a software level as it offers its Wear OS operating system to companies like LG, Fossil and other brands. Apple, however, remains the segment leader with Apple Watches grabbing nearly half the market. Xiaomi and Huawei are also strong in this sector, especially in China.
Google has been expanding its hardware portfolio off late. In addition to the Pixel phones, the company also offers Pixel Buds, Pixelbook, Google Home, among others. If the reported deal with Fitbit goes through, we may see the launch of a Google-branded smartwatch in the near future as the company looks to expand its ecosystem much like Apple.
Fitbit would also benefit from this deal with Google as the US-based wearable device maker has been struggling to gain a significant market share with Chinese competition like Xiaomi and Huawei offering affordable fitness trackers.
