Fitbit buys smartwatch pioneer Pebble, iPhone manufacturer Foxconn talks about a US expansion, and more news
Pebble, which kickstarted the smartwatch era with a record-setting Kickstarter, is being acquired by Fitbit. While Apple Watch sales are still a mystery, this form of wearable — virtually non-existent when Pebble launched in 2012 — has outlasted Google Glass, and Pebble's success almost certainly energized Apple. Pebble dies with a whimper; Fitbit won't market Pebble watches and seems primarily interested in software and only some of the company's engineers.
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Foxconn, the Taiwanese manufacturer which assembles the iPhone, said it was in "preliminary talks" to expand US operations. Foxconn is also involved in robotics, health care, e-commerce, and consumer-tech startups, and "it wasn’t immediately clear which sector Foxconn is targeting for U.S. investments," the Wall Street Journal reports. However, this intriguingly dovetails with President-elect Trump's interest in China, manufacturing jobs — and Apple. (Photo: Forbes Conrad/Bloomberg via Getty)
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Congress completed action on the 21st Century Cures Act, "sweeping legislation that will reshape the way the Food and Drug Administration approves new medicines," as Reuters puts it. The bill passed overwhelmingly in both the House and Senate, though it was opposed by Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders "as big handouts to the pharma industry."
Trump Cabinet Watch: PEOTUS chose retired Marine Gen. John F. Kelly, a "blunt-spoken border security hawk," to run Homeland Security. Kelly's the third ex-general on the senior team … Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad was tapped as Ambassador to China. Branstad has been friends with Chinese President Xi Jinping for decades … Scott Pruitt, attorney general of the "oil and gas intensive state of Oklahoma," was named to run the EPA. The Washington Post notes that the AG "has spent much of his energy ... fighting against the agency he will now lead" … Former World Wrestling Entertainment CEO Linda McMahon gets the Small Business Administration. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty)
The Dow set its 12th post-election record with a nearly 300-point gain to close at 19,550. The S&P and the Nasdaq have risen 4.8% and 3.9% since Nov. 8, respectively, reports CNBC.
Cover Art: Pebble smartwatches used for R&D and testing at the company's headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif. (Photo by Ramin Talaie/Corbis via Getty Images)
Account Executive at Canalys
8 年Very interesting market, expecting some big developments in the coming year
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8 年I don't have a fitbit but a gramium witch is a useful tool for getting active
Associate Director at Fidelity International
8 年This starts consolidation fight, will be interesting to see how much innovation can remaining players get to customers now as fight for custom accusations/bigger pie has begun..
Founder WaveInnova | CTO Global Foundries | Product Management Executive | Edge AI, IoT, 5G and Automotive
8 年Key thing to learn from Pebble demise is that products need to evolve with time and companies that stick to their old laurels fade with time. Seems Pebble didn't learned from Nokia.....
Technical Development Lead - Business Analyst
8 年Interesting article John! In technology, especially when an acquisition of this type is made there is a significant amount of work going on under the surface. Pebble is geeky cool, pebble ink, passively tackles the health lifestyle movement, device operates for nearly a full week without requiring a recharge, has a small none intrusive messaging footprint and competitively priced in an emerging IoT market. The folks at FitBit should be absolutely stoked with this purchase! In my humble opinion Apple’s target market is the Garmins, Sunntos of the world and vertical niche market in the health space i.e Hospitals – Smart Watch this space :-)