Warranty Support No Longer Available for Pebble Watches After Fitbit Buy, Says CEO
Pebble devices “will continue to work as normal,” but warranty support is no longer available, said founder Eric Migicovsky in a blog post Wednesday after the announcement that Fitbit acquired assets of the smartwatch platform company Tuesday. “No immediate changes…
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to the Pebble user experience will happen at this time,” said Migicovsky, who said Pebble functionality or service quality “may be reduced in the future.” Migicovsky steered customers looking for product assistance to website support and the Pebble forum. Pebble is “no longer able to operate as an independent entity,” said Migicovsky. Fitbit bought assets including “key personnel” and intellectual property about software and firmware development, it announced, but Pebble’s hardware products weren’t part of the transaction. The assets give Fitbit “deep industry expertise in platform development” that complements Fitbit’s health and fitness features and will enable faster delivery of new products, features and functionality, said the wearables maker. It also will accelerate development of customized solutions and third-party applications for Fitbit Group Health customers, it said. Android accounts for nearly 90 percent of smartphone operating system market share globally, and acquiring Pebble’s “open, agnostic” OS allows Fitbit to compete with cross-platform devices, it said. Terms weren’t disclosed, but analysts pegged the value of the assets at $34 million-$40 million. A Fitbit spokeswoman emailed us that the acquisition "is not material to Fitbit’s financials," so terms won't be disclosed