Google Could Be Launching Pixel Watch After Fitbit Acquisition

Google's parent company, Alphabet, recently made a bid to acquire health and fitness wearables maker Fitbit, reports say.

Sources familiar with the matter said Google owner Alphabet is looking to get a share in the growing wearables market and made a bid to acquire popular health wearables maker Fitbit, Reuters reported. The sources, speaking on the condition of anonymity due to the matter's confidential nature, were unable to disclose an amount or the certainty of a possible sale.

Fitbit's shares jump 27% higher after the news broke and gave the company a market capitalization of $1.4 billion USD. CNBC noted that the wearable maker's stock was halted after rising more than 18% that day, but resumed to see the shares up 30.5% by the day's end, adding $330 million and bringing its market cap to $1.5 billion.

Alphabet, which saw its shares rise 2% to $1,293.49, is seen to benefit from the deal should it push through. Google, which has started competing with top performing brands in the smartphone category such as Apple and Samsung, is yet to release its own offering in the wearables space, and Fitbit's expertise in this arena just might help with that.

Fitbit is known for its fitness trackers designed to monitor a person's daily activities. These wearables count the steps a user makes, the distance a person travels, and the number of calories a person burns in relation to his activities. These wearables also check for heart rate, sleep quality and duration, and the number of floors climbed.

Previous reports revealed that Fitbit is also working with several healthcare companies to add an ECG and AFib notifications function similar to the Apple Watch's.

Should the deal between Alphabet and Fitbit push through, Google might soon be able to release a worthy Apple Watch competitor, especially should Fitbit succeed in its ECG efforts.

Not the first

Fitbit isn't the only wearables company Alphabet is interested in. Google previously acquired “secret smartwatch technology” from known watchmaker Fossil for $40 million USD. This acquisition is for a technology called “Diana” – a hybrid smartwatch tech combining digital and analogue designs.

Diana boasts of a combination of traditional analogue features (such as watch hands) and digital features (such as displays and complications).