We already know that Fitbit has officially stopped making smartwatches, but we’ve now received another signal that the Activity Tracker brand may be on its way to being phased out or discontinued.
This week, the brand posted on X (formerly Twitter) that its official account has been closed. At the time of writing it’s still live, presumably so people see the announcement that Fitbit news will now appear on the @madebygoogle account.
However, the same move has not taken place on Instagram and Facebook, while the Fitbit Support The UK and Irish pages were redirected earlier this year, but at the time of writing we can’t see the page on Facebook.
“Starting today, follow us there for the latest Fitbit news, tips and fun, or visit @Fitbit on Instagram and Facebook,” Fitbit said on X.
https://twitter.com/fitbit/status/1845882795094122767
While Google, which has owned Fitbit since 2021, has made no official announcement about the wearable brand’s future, fans are understandably concerned.
Is this another nail, albeit a small one, in Fitbit’s coffin? We hope not, but it doesn’t look too positive.
Apart from the Fitbit Ace LTE, which hasn’t launched in the UK yet, it’s been over a year since the last Fitbit, the Charge 6, launched. Since then, there have been few rumors about anything new, like a Versa 5 or Charge 7.
Matt Farrington-Smith / Foundry
According to Statista, Fitbit will sell 6.6 million devices in 2023. That’s almost 30% less than in 2022, and sales have fallen to varying degrees since 2019.
It’s not unusual for Google to shut things down, and Fitbit may be no exception. It has to compete not only with cheap activity trackers/smartwatches from the likes of Xiaomi, Amazfit and CMF, but also with a wave of new wearables such as smart rings, even though the latter are currently much more expensive.
While it may be too early to determine the time of death for Fitbit, the prognosis is not particularly positive either.
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