Fossil, a giant in the watch industry, has recently acquired Misfit Wearables for a whopping US$260 million, thus merging the classical watchmaker with the skills and talents from Silicon Valley. The deal is likely to close before the end of the fiscal year, and the watchmaker company plans to start integrating Misfit's technology into devices that resemble traditional watches next year.
Misfit has built a solid reputation with its sleek, affordable activity monitors that can last for months with just one single coin battery. Furthermore, it has a variety of smarthome products such as sleep monitors and smart bulbs, making their portfolio not only limited to smart accessories and home products that can also be of great use in the world today.
By purchasing Misfit Wearables, Fossil will have a technology platform that will present a great solution with today's issues in wearables. However, Mistfit Wearables will still continue to develop activity trackers under its own name, but Fossil Group will be using Misfit's technology across its 16 brands next year.
"We have a significant opportunity to add technology and connectivity across our platform of watches and accessories,""With the acquisition of Misfit, Fossil Group will be uniquely positioned to lead the convergence of style and technology and to become the fashion gateway to the high-growth wearable technology and connected device markets," said Fossil CEO Kosta Kartsotis.
Recently, Fossil had announced its Fossil Q lineup that includes a pair of smartwatches and another pair of tracker bracelets. The company is also setting its sights on new distribution channels, products, brands and enterprise partnerships that includes music, fitness, health care and digital entities.
Tag Heuer has also entered the wearable competition with its luxurious Connected smartwatch that runs on Google's Android wear. It's a clear sign that the world is taking great notice of smartwatches as traditional timepiece makers are now joining in the fold and embracing the technology that wearables bring.
