Rumor: Fitbit, a manufacturer of smart watches and bracelets, plans to buy its competitor Pebble for $ 40 million

With a high degree of probability, the independent manufacturer of Pebble smart watches will soon become history. According to rumors that large English-language publications confirm , Fitbit plans to buy Pebble for between $ 34 and $ 40 million.

The amount of the transaction, even without that, becomes even smaller after reviewing the company's debts: there is a large part of the amount from the sale of the business will go to pay off debt.

Indie manufacturer Pebble is not able to withstand competition with larger market players. As one of the founders of the smartwatch industry, a startup that has grown into a manufacturer has failed to cope with many difficulties. One of the main problems is not so much the demand for smart watches , as the device evangelists predicted. Not only Pebble has encountered this, but also such manufacturers as, for example, Apple, Samsung. The other is ineffective management and persistent funding problems.

Back in 2015, the manufacturer of classic watches Citizen planned to buy Pebble for $ 740 million - an amount almost 20 times higher than the amount of the current deal with Fitbit, but Pebble refused. After the failure of Pebble Time Round watches on sale, the company decided to buy Intel for much less $ 70 million. The main condition was not to go to Kickstarter with the new Pebble 2 and Pebble Time 2 (the campaign eventually collected $ 12 million). But Pebble again refused the offer, and the discussion inside the organization led to the departure of two senior managers. The irony is that they are now working at Intel.

In March of this year, the company tried to level out its position by reducing staff. Then about 25% of the company's employees were fired (40 people altogether). But all attempts to keep Pebble afloat did not give the desired result. Seven months after the company's shares were placed on the stock exchange at a price of $ 20 (with a subsequent increase of 65%), today they are trading at around $ 8.5 per share.

In fact, selling Pebble Fitbit, which feels much better and more confident, can be called business liquidation. The fate of the brand is a big question. Fitbit is primarily interested in Pebble software development, as well as other intellectual property of the company.