A report published today suggests that wearable manufacturer Fitbit is going to report terrible fourth quarter earnings tomorrow. That could be a clue that sales of fitness bands are tanking. Another clue that Fitbit is suffering tough times is a report that the company is going to lay off 80 to 160 workers. At the top of that range, 10% of the company’s 1,600 employees will be out of work. Earlier this month, we told you that Fitbit could be working on an app store with third party apps inside. At the same time, Fitbit would allow its wearable devices to work with such apps.
The hope for Fitbit is that it can produce a smartwatch that will work with third party apps. That would allow the manufacturer to compete with companies like Apple, Samsung and LG. While the company does have some devices that have many of the same functions as a smartwatch, like the Fitbit Blaze, the latter does not work with third party apps.
Fitbit purchased smartwatch company Pebble last month in a deal valued at approximately $40 million. With the purchase, Fitbit gets Pebble’s operating system and other IP. The company also decided to hire several Pebble engineers and testers. Others will receive severance pay.
It isn’t clear whether any of the 80 to 160 Fitbit employees receiving a pink slip include some of the workers from Pebble being let go. Fitbit could save as much as $200 million in annual costs if it does layoff personnel.
source: TheInformation (subscription req’d) via MobileSyrup
