Fitbit by Google? Alphabet offers to buy wearables maker, reports suggest

Google’s owner Alphabet has reportedly made an offer to purchase wearable device maker Fitbit, sources told Reuters on Monday.

In a brief but exclusive wire, Reuters sources call the potential purchase “confidential”, but admitted that there’s “no certainty” that talks between the two companies will “lead to any deal”.

Why would Alphabet want Fitbit?

Google has yet to offer any wearable hardware with its own name on it. It does however still develop Wear OS, its wearable operating system for smartwatches that other OEMs, like LG and Fossil, still use.

San Francisco-based Fitbit, meanwhile, has its own array of hardware — from wearables to smart products like scales — as well as a fully-fledged fitness-orientated wearable OS. It does not offer its OS to any other company.

There are also lot of devices in its bouquet, including the newly-launched Versa 2. This hardware experience could massively benefit Google in its wearable ambitions.

The company has also just dipped its toe into offering fitness-as-a-service through its Premium subscription tier.

Should Alphabet succeed, it’s not clear how Fitbit’s wares would fit into Google’s product portfolio, or whether the company will simply be absorbed like Nest.

Reuters’ sources failed to disclose the price Alphabet has put on Fitbit.

Feature image: The Fitbit Blaze, by Fitbit