Fossil Decides to Discontinue Smartwatch Production
Fossil has announced that it will stop making smartwatches going forward as it looks to double down on its “core segments”.
For the uninitiated, Fossil has been making Wear OS smartwatches for quite some time in addition to regular watches, and was one of the first OEMs to launch the first batch of Android Wear watches.
In a statement shared with The Verge, Fossil CEO Jeff Boyer said, “As the smartwatch world has evolved significantly over the past few years, we have made a strategic decision to exit the smartwatch business.”
He added: “Fossil Group will redirect resources to support our core strength and the core segments of our business that continue to provide us with strong growth opportunities: the design and distribution of exciting traditional watches, jewelery and leather goods, with both our own and licensed products, he added. Brand names.”
The Verge also notes that Fossil’s Gen 6 watch will be its last smartwatch, but that doesn’t mean the company is abandoning them. Boyer said Fossil will continue to support Wear OS watches for the next few years. The watchmaker also failed to deliver the Gen 7 last year with the Qualcomm W5 Plus, but that never materialized for release. Its eventual decision to withdraw from the smartwatch market may have been a likely reason.
Additionally, we’ve recently seen increased efforts from both Google and Samsung on their Pixel and Galaxy smartwatches. This has only increased the competition in the Wear OS smartwatch category.
