Google bought Fitbit and these are the reasons why Apple should start to worry

Tram Ho

Google has confirmed the acquisition of famous smartwatch manufacturer Fitbit for $ 2.1 billion, in a move that wants to return and compete in the smartwatch market.

There are still many questions about how the acquisition process will take place, such as whether current Fitbit products will be affected and how future devices will be branded. But this move clearly brings some benefits to Fitbit, helping the famous smartwatch manufacturer to gain significantly new reach and huge resources to develop new products and services.

But more importantly, with the help of Google, Fitbit will be able to solve some software problems, which are considered to be the biggest drawbacks on the devices of this technology company.

The inherent flair and weakness of the Fitbit smartwatch

Google đã mua Fitbit và đây là những lý do tại sao Apple nên bắt đầu lo lắng - Ảnh 1.

The software on Fitbit smartwatches like the Versa and Versa Light offers a different experience, very easy to navigate and enough to perform basic tasks like starting a workout mode or viewing documents, reading notifications. But it lacks significant flair when compared to the Apple Watch.

Apple has a natural advantage in this area. As one of the largest smartphone manufacturers in the world, with successful evidence that has sold 900 million iPhones worldwide. And the company clearly modeled watchOS, the operating system and software system specifically for Apple Watch, to have a similar interface on the iPhone.

For example, the notification display. Cards in the Apple Watch notification tray, accessible by dragging down from the top of the screen and have a layering interface. This obviously feels richer and more subtle than Fitbit’s simple text notifications. And along with a bunch of other small but equally subtle details, when combined together, will bring an experience that makes it easier for users to see the Apple Watch than the Fitbit.

And if possible, when it comes to Google’s future WearOS software, Fitbit is likely to help its products close the gap, before catching up with Apple in this race.

Relations with the developers

Google đã mua Fitbit và đây là những lý do tại sao Apple nên bắt đầu lo lắng - Ảnh 2.

In addition to the WearOS operating system, Google also owns something else worth mentioning, which is the “relationship”. As the person behind the world’s largest app market, Google’s power has a significant effect in fostering Fitbit’s relationship with developers.

Simply put, Fitbit’s application library currently has only a few hundred products, many of which are simple utilities created by small companies. Except, there are a handful of big brands like Starbucks, Uber and Spotify.

But main rival Apple Watch has nearly 20,000 watchOS apps available in the App Store. But as part of Google, the owner of the huge Google Play app store for Android, this is likely to change.

Fitbit’s own advantage

Google đã mua Fitbit và đây là những lý do tại sao Apple nên bắt đầu lo lắng - Ảnh 3.

In the second quarter of 2019, Fitbit’s smartwatch market share was 9.8%, compared to Apple’s 46.4%, according to Strategy Analytics. This is a significant difference, but not so that Fitbit does not have its own advantage over Apple.

The first is the price, Fitbit devices are significantly cheaper than Apple. The newly launched Versa 2 costs around $ 200, while the Apple Watch Series 5 costs twice as much, starting at $ 400.

Next, the Fitbit smartwatch can track the user’s sleep instantly. Unlike Apple Watch, you must download a third-party application to do so.

Finally, the battery life on the Fitbit smartwatch is significantly longer than the competition. Users can enjoy spending up to 4 to 5 days to charge while the Apple Watch is nightly.

It’s easy to see that if Google helps Fitbit address some of its existing weaknesses, especially in software and applications, the company can afford to catch up with the Apple Watch. And this is all the more important at a time when Apple Watch sales and other wearables like AirPods are becoming more important than ever for Apple.

Apple has turned to product lines such as wearables and services (iCloud, App Store and Apple TV Plus) to compensate for the declining iPhone sales. The company’s revenue in the fourth quarter of 2019 was the highest ever, and Apple also acknowledged the reason behind the growth of service businesses and wearables. And when its fat piece of cake suddenly comes to mind, Apple should probably start worrying about itself.

Refer to Business Insider

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Source : Trí Thức Trẻ