A veritable meeting of the wearables may be in the works, as Fitbit is rumored to be considering a purchase of Pebble. Initially reported by The Information (opens in new tab) and verified by Engadget, the price of the potential deal is said to land somewhere between $34 and $40 million.
Interestingly, Fitbit is said to be mostly interested less in Pebble's products and more in its intellectual properties and operating system. According to The Information, that means Fitbit is likely to phase out Pebble's devices following a potential acquisition. Still, it would definitely be interesting to see what Fitbit would concoct by combining its Fitness tracker experience with Pebble's OS know-how.
As an aside, Engadget's report notes that this isn't the first acquisition offer Pebble has received. In 2015, Pebble apparently turned down a far more lucrative offer of $740 million from well-known watch maker Citizen. As it stands, the rumored $34 to $40 million offer from Fitbit would just manage to cover Pebble's current debt to suppliers, which is said to be at least $25 million.
As with all reports of this nature, it's best to take this with a grain of salt until we hear confirmation from either Fitbit or Pebble. With that in mind, what would you like to see from a device with both Fitbit and Pebble DNA? Let us know in the comments!
Dan Thorp-Lancaster is the Editor in Chief for Windows Central. He began working with Windows Central as a news writer in 2014 and is obsessed with tech of all sorts. You can follow Dan on Twitter @DthorpL and Instagram @heyitsdtl. Got a hot tip? Send it to daniel.thorp-lancaster@futurenet.com.
