FitBit snaps up Pebble in bid to stay alive in shrinking wearables market

Two struggling wearables companies have joined forces in a bid to survive in a surprisingly shrinking tech marketplace. TheInformation.com says FitBit has purchased Pebble, which arguably was one of the first companies to make a truly usable smartwatch way back in 2013. But after initially raising millions to fund that first watch, it’s been slow going in the wearables market, especially after Apple debuted the Apple Watch in 2015.

Pebble laid off a quarter of its workforce earlier this year despite rolling out a new version of their smartwatch, and FitBit isn’t faring much better with a stock price hovering close to $8, or 60 percent lower than their IPO price. The wrist-wearables market has actually shrunk by almost half, with only Garmin and Samsung showing any growth numbers. FitBit reportedly paid about $40 million for Pebble, far less than the $200 million Pebble’s CEO was hoping for.

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