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Wearables maker Fitbit is said to be close to buying fellow manufacturer Pebble.
Fitbit is long established as one of the biggest names in the wearable and fitness tracking industry and, while Pebble also has a large number of supporters, it’s been known for some time the company has been looking for a buyer.
The Information and The Verge are among multiple news outlets in the US carrying the story of a deal being imminent, with sources close to the companies reportedly confirming as much.
The reports also suggest the deal could involve Fitbit buying Pebble’s intellectual property and phasing out the Pebble brand.
Pebble is perhaps best known for being one of the first truly successful Kickstarter campaigns back in 2012 – alongside Oculus and their Rift VR headset, another household name.
While it extended and expanded its range of smartwatches, money has remained an issue, and Pebble cut a quarter of its staff earlier this year. At the same time, CEO Eric Migicovsky said that money was “pretty tight these days”.
It’s been far from a smooth year for Fitbit, whose first major smartwatch announcement at the start of the year – the Blaze – was met with such a lukewarm reception from investors that stocks in the firm temporarily plummeted.
Since then Fitbit has rolled out a new version of the Charge fitness tracker and added more fashion accessories.
There is no official word on the price of the apparent deal, with both companies yet to officially comment.
