Google can make a success of Fitbit if it can be managed as well as the integration of HTC's smartphone team, but it can also end up as a fiasco like Nest

The HTC acquisition went well, Nest did not — will this? — Google is buying Fitbit and the reasons why are both simple and complicated.

The Verge 2019-11-03 Dieter Bohn

Context & Ripple Effects

When Google announced the Fitbit purchase, the coverage split immediately: The Verge framed it as a test of whether Google can manage an acquisition like its successful integration of HTC's smartphone team, while Android Police called it a top-down decision built on the delusion that Fitbit can revive Wear OS. The comparison set matters — Nest is the cautionary tale of a beloved brand absorbed badly, HTC's phone team the proof Google can execute when it wants to.

The later record sharpens the bet: Google closed the deal in January 2021 with a promise that the deal was always about devices, not data, then in 2021 merged Wear OS with Samsung's Tizen after years of failing to build a cohesive wearables strategy — and by 2026, Fitbit is being rebranded under Google Health as Google shuts down its own Fit app.

First-order effects

Fitbit's brand, hardware line, and team now sit inside Google, where their fate depends on which internal playbook applies: the HTC-style integration or the Nest-style absorption that coverage already flagged as the failure mode.
Wear OS is the stated beneficiary — the Android Police critique holds that Fitbit's real job is rescuing Google's watch platform, not running as an independent fitness business.

Second-order effects

Google's 2021 move to merge Wear OS with Samsung's Tizen shows the strategy didn't rest on Fitbit alone — the acquisition became one leg of a broader wearables consolidation with Samsung rather than a standalone revival.
Fitbit users and health-data rivals now face a Google-controlled fitness stack, which is why the closing announcement led with privacy assurances about devices versus data.

Third-order effects

The endgame visible in the 2026 coverage — Fitbit rebranded to Google Health and Google's own Fit app shutting down — suggests Google's consumer acquisitions tend to end as brand absorption into Google's own services, the Nest trajectory rather than the HTC one.
If that pattern holds, capability acquisitions at Google are less about preserving the target's brand than strip-mining it for talent, hardware, and data to feed Google-branded products — with regulators and users the ones asked to trust the transition.

The trend: Google's consumer hardware acquisitions are converging on the same endpoint: the acquired brand dissolves into Google's own product stack, with integration competence — not the deal itself — deciding whether it lands as HTC or as Nest.

Discussion

@nickcrocker Nick Crocker on x
2007: Fitbit founded. 2009: Fitbit launched. 2010: $5M 2011: $15M 2012: $76M 2013: $271M 2014: $745M *Goes public having raised $66M across four rounds of VC funding* 2015: $1.86B *Valuation passes $12B* 2016: $2.17B 2017: $1.62B 2018: $1.51B 2019: Acquired for $2.1B
@carnage4life Dare Obasanjo on x
It isn't obvious to many but Apple basically killed FitBit in the same way it did Nokia & Blackberry. Fitbit stock is off over 90% from its highs in 2015 because of Apple Watch. They simply couldn't match the innovation. Funny enough pundits called Apple Watch a flop for years. h…
@google @google on x
We've signed an agreement to acquire @Fitbit. Together, we aim to spur innovation in wearables and build helpful products to benefit more people around the world. https://blog.google/...
@walmyrcarvalho Walmyr Carvalho on x
Why I don't have a good feeling about this? https://twitter.com/...
@reneritchie Rene Ritchie on x
Anyone know how the HTC acquisition has really worked out for Google (and HTC team)? Motorola fell apart. Nest has had ups and downs. Some say HTC has been good. Others, kinda dysfunctional.
@benbajarin Ben Bajarin on x
Fitbit 2019 revenue estimates are $1.45B so Google buying for $2.1B is not even 2x revenue. When negotiating an acquisition 3x revenue is usually the baseline. This is telling about the state of Fitbit.
@anildash @anildash on x
If I recall correctly, Alphabet acquiring FitBit means that Google now controls hardware that's tied to some people's health insurance coverage?
@daiwaka Daisuke Wakabayashi on x
The hardware business is very hard. Even if you “make it” and avoid buring all your cash, the best you can hope for is to be gobbled up by a giant. Nest (Google), Ring (Amazon), Eero (Amazon), Beats (Apple) and, now, Fitbit (Google). https://www.nytimes.com/...
@chrissyfarr Christina Farr on x
Fitbit has 28 million active users, but it has sold more than 100 million devices. So most people that bought one aren't using it. Can Google fix the all important engagement problem? 75% churn is high, from what I understand.
@wsj @wsj on x
In announcing its $2.1B acquisition of Fitbit, Google said it wouldn't use Fitbit users' personal data to help power its massive online advertising business: “We will be transparent about the data we collect and way” https://www.wsj.com/...
@thehfone @thehfone on x
“In a way, Google acquiring Fitbit is sort of perfect...Much like Wear OS itself, Google is investing in a loser” Ouch 🤭 https://www.androidpolice.com/ ...
@_am1t Amit Gawande on x
Fitbit acquisition doesn't seem to be an attempt it replace or bolster the WearOS platform. It may purely be a play to have a presence in fitness tracking space - which Apple, slowly but surely, has owned with Apple Watch. It is no longer just about smartwatch. https://twitter.co…
@brianfagioli Brian Fagioli on x
@Techmeme @RDRv3 I agree that Apple Watch is probably the best wearable, but it doesn't work with Android. So I don't know why pundits and analysts think it's too late for Google to catch up. The large majority of smartphone users simply can't use Apple Watch.
@ezaffar Ehsan Zaffar on x
EPIC SUMMATION: “Now Pebble is inside Fitbit, which is inside Google hardware, which is inside Google, which is inside Alphabet. It's a nesting doll of how tech works in 2019.” ⁦@backlon⁩ https://www.theverge.com/...
@lpolovets Leo Polovets on x
What are people's theories on why Google acquired Fitbit? - brand? Google already has a decent hardware brand. - hardware expertise? Google already has that. - data? Android already provides way more data. - team? They could poach best people for way less than $2b. What's left? h…
@raztweets Raz on x
Great. Now Google will have access to my most embarrassing data of all - my fitness levels. https://twitter.com/...
@scalzi John Scalzi on x
Cool, now my fitbit will talk to the Google Fit app. https://www.theverge.com/...
@lexnfx Alexei Oreskovic on x
Two important details Google not commenting on wrt Fitbit acquisition: 1. Will it maintain Fitbit product line + brand (a la nest)? 2. Is Google hiring all Fitbit employees (1,625 as of June 30) with the deal?
@b_fung Brian Fung on x
In the Google-Fitbit announcement, Fitbit says its health and wellness data “will not be used for Google ads.” https://investor.fitbit.com/ ...
@neilcybart Neil Cybart on x
Also, the fact that this paragraph about privacy needed to be included in the Fitbit / Google press release speaks volume. Fitbit (and Google) know Fitbit users are not going to be thrilled to discover they are wearing a Google product on their bodies. pic.twitter.com/NW88wwa2p1
@cfiesler @cfiesler on x
One of the Black Mirror episodes written by participants in my session at MozFest was about a FitBit with ads where it tried to steer the wearer towards activities that would lead to purchasing behavior. https://www.nytimes.com/...
@amir Amir Efrati on x
New: Facebook looked to buy Fitbit for $1B before Google swooped in. http://thein.fo/... scoop via @alexeheath
@tiffanycli Tiffany C. Li on x
Oh boy. Think of how much sensitive personal data Fitbit owns - location, health, network data, all the integrations with other apps and services. Watch for antitrust action on this. https://twitter.com/...
@rosterloh Rick Osterloh on x
Looking forward to working with @parkjames & the really talented team @fitbit, excited about what we can do together! https://twitter.com/...
@realdanstoller Dan Stoller on x
Sen. Hawley, often a Google critic, is questioning why the company should be cleared to buy FitBit while it faces a DOJ competition probe. https://twitter.com/...
@daniel_rubino Daniel Rubino on x
Who would have been a good suitor for Fitbit? I'm not sure (don't say Microsoft), but I don't have faith in Google. I don't see how mixing Wear OS + Fitbit is going to move the needle for Google vs Apple. This isn't a strategy shift, it's a Hail Mary. https://www.windowscentral.c…
@natashanyt Natasha Singer on x
1/ Google's $2.1 billion purchase of Fitbit represents much more than a hardware play for wearables, my colleague @satariano writes. It is also a major digital health merger. https://www.nytimes.com/...
@mikeisaac Rat King on x
still not quite sure what Oculus lab is up to over there but i guess everyone wants into wearables now https://www.theinformation.com/ ...
@a_w_gordon Aaron W. Gordon on x
$2.1 billion to get information my doctor won't even email to another doctor without me signing a release feels exceedingly cheap. https://twitter.com/...
@nickwingfield Nick Wingfield on x
facebook wanted fitbit too, tho not nearly as badly as google, @alexeheath reports http://thein.fo/...
@neilcybart Neil Cybart on x
Google to buy Fitbit for $2.1 billion. That's a big number for Fitbit, all things considered. https://www.businesswire.com/ ... https://twitter.com/...
@alexeheath Alex Heath on x
Scoop: Facebook also held talks to acquire Fitbit, but ultimately was only willing to pay roughly half of the $2.1 billion price Google said today it will pay for the business http://thein.fo/...
@charlesarthur Charles Arthur on x
Google buying Fitbit for $2.1bn, which is only a slight premium over today's market cap of $1.8bn - though share price has shot up as rumours of acquisition spread. More consolidation, happening faster. Not sure it will make a true Apple Watch rival tho. https://blog.google/... h…
@kkiyer90 Karthekayan Iyer on x
This is great news for wearables and Fitbit. However, calling Google a competitor to Apple seems premature. Fitbit failed to capitalise on Pebble's tech and Wear OS efforts so far look underwhelming. https://twitter.com/...
@geoffreyfowler Geoffrey A. Fowler on x
Google is promising “Fitbit health and wellness data will not be used for Google ads.” https://wapo.st/2r3NhUg I also remember when Google acquired Nest and @tfadell said home data would “not go into the greater Google or any of its other business units.”
@krazyfrog Cynical Guruji on x
Fitbit, after one year: Mr. Stark I don't feel so good https://twitter.com/...
@_am1t Amit Gawande on x
With Fitbit, Google can possibly gain a lot more insight into the health data about users. Many trust Fitbit with this data — it has to be extremely valuable to Google. Of course, the acquisition can also affect that trust, if no lessons are learnt from Nest. https://twitter.com/…
@lutherlowe Luther Lowe on x
Google's brazen attempt to acquire FitBit while so much antitrust scrutiny against the company swirls globally is shocking but not surprising. A quick glance at FitBit's privacy policy reveals some of the data Google gets from FitBit users if the deal is approved: pic.twitter.com…
@backlon Dieter Bohn on x
Fitbit is going to be part of Google's hardware division, this is about Google getting smarter at making wearable hardware — Wear OS is almost tangential to this deal from what I can tell. https://www.theverge.com/...
@neilcybart Neil Cybart on x
It's very impressive that Fitbit managed to get $7.35 per share from Google. Fitbit shares last traded at that level back in January 2017. Google could have easily stuck it to Fitbit at this point but they didn't likely to make Fitbit employees happy and stay on board.
@stevekovach Steve Kovach on x
Fitbit resumed trading. Up 16% now https://www.cnbc.com/...
@markdeloura Mark DeLoura on x
Am starting to believe there might be a real market for devices that strictly report data back to a home brain and nowhere else. Congratulations to Fitbit! But I can't help wonder what new ads will come from my 9 years of weight and activity data. 😬 https://twitter.com/...
@lamonicabuzz Paul R. La Monica on x
And there it is. Fitbit getting bought by Google/Alphabet for $2.1 billion. $7.35 a share. Nearly 20% premium to yesterday's closing price. $FIT $GOOGL https://investor.fitbit.com/ ...

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