• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
TechFitbit

Fitbit Dishes About Upcoming Smartwatch

By
Aaron Pressman
Aaron Pressman
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Aaron Pressman
Aaron Pressman
Down Arrow Button Icon
August 2, 2017, 5:46 PM ET

Once the top maker of smart, wearable devices, Fitbit has been struggling for the past year as the market for its fitness tracking gadgets appears to plateau. On Wednesday, the company set a date for the next version of its product, a smartwatch built from the seeds of another pioneering wearable maker that ran into difficulty, Pebble.

Fitbit CEO James Park says his company’s new smartwatch will be available in time for the holiday shopping season. “We’re excited for the launch,” Park says. “There’s a lot of attributes to it that differentiate us from the competition out there.”

The CEO isn’t ready to reveal exact specifics yet, though Fitbit says the upcoming device will have multi-day battery life, GPS tracking, water resistance, a focus primarily on health and fitness functions, and come at an “attractive” but still undisclosed price. That suggests it will cost in the range of Apple’s $269 to $369 entry-level watch models, as opposed to higher-end models at $549 and up or some of the newer luxury smartwatches that cost $1,000 plus and run Google’s (GOOGL) Android Wear software.

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.

The debut will come after Fitbit’s sales from its traditional fitness trackers have fallen significantly and Apple retooled its watch to target more health and fitness functions. On Wednesday, Fitbit said its second-quarter revenue had dropped 40% to just $353 million on sales of 3.4 million devices, a little more than half what it sold a year ago.

Earlier this year, Fitbit fell to third place overall for the first time in the wearables category, according to market tracker International Data Corp. Chinese gadget maker Xiaomi tied with Apple (AAPL) to ship the most wearables.

Still, the second quarter sales were a little better than Wall Street analysts expected and shares of Fitbit, which had lost 63% over the past year, gained about 5% in after-hours trading.

The upcoming Fitbit (FIT) smartwatch will run third-party apps, although it may take some time for a robust market to develop, Park said. At least initially, only a limited number of selected partners will be able to provide apps, Park says.

“That’s reflective with our overall company strategy—we’re a health and fitness-focused brand,” he says. “Our partner strategy and our app strategy will probably reflect that a little bit in the beginning.”

Fitbit will distribute a software developer kit to allow more companies to create compatible apps over time. “It will be really exciting and interesting to see how the developer community, primarily initially from Pebble, reacts to the tools,” Park says. “I think developers are going to be surprised and excited by the ease of use and simplicity of the developer tools.”

Fitbit built a technology foundation for its new device over the past year or so, paying a total of $54 million for assets from failing smartwatch makers Pebble and Vector, and mobile wallet startup Coin.

About the Author
By Aaron Pressman
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Tech

Sarandos
Arts & EntertainmentM&A
It’s a sequel, it’s a remake, it’s a reboot: Lawyers grow wistful for old corporate rumbles as Paramount, Netflix fight for Warner
By Nick LichtenbergDecember 13, 2025
3 hours ago
Oracle chairman of the board and chief technology officer Larry Ellison delivers a keynote address during the 2019 Oracle OpenWorld on September 16, 2019 in San Francisco, California.
AIOracle
Oracle’s collapsing stock shows the AI boom is running into two hard limits: physics and debt markets
By Eva RoytburgDecember 13, 2025
4 hours ago
robots
InnovationRobots
‘The question is really just how long it will take’: Over 2,000 gather at Humanoids Summit to meet the robots who may take their jobs someday
By Matt O'Brien and The Associated PressDecember 12, 2025
17 hours ago
Man about to go into police vehicle
CryptoCryptocurrency
Judge tells notorious crypto scammer ‘you have been bitten by the crypto bug’ in handing down 15 year sentence 
By Carlos GarciaDecember 12, 2025
18 hours ago
three men in suits, one gesturing
AIBrainstorm AI
The fastest athletes in the world can botch a baton pass if trust isn’t there—and the same is true of AI, Blackbaud exec says
By Amanda GerutDecember 12, 2025
19 hours ago
Brainstorm AI panel
AIBrainstorm AI
Creative workers won’t be replaced by AI—but their roles will change to become ‘directors’ managing AI agents, executives say
By Beatrice NolanDecember 12, 2025
19 hours ago

Most Popular

placeholder alt text
Economy
Tariffs are taxes and they were used to finance the federal government until the 1913 income tax. A top economist breaks it down
By Kent JonesDecember 12, 2025
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Success
Apple cofounder Ronald Wayne sold his 10% stake for $800 in 1976—today it’d be worth up to $400 billion
By Preston ForeDecember 12, 2025
23 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Success
40% of Stanford undergrads receive disability accommodations—but it’s become a college-wide phenomenon as Gen Z try to succeed in the current climate
By Preston ForeDecember 12, 2025
22 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Economy
For the first time since Trump’s tariff rollout, import tax revenue has fallen, threatening his lofty plans to slash the $38 trillion national debt
By Sasha RogelbergDecember 12, 2025
18 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Economy
The Fed just ‘Trump-proofed’ itself with a unanimous move to preempt a potential leadership shake-up
By Jason MaDecember 12, 2025
16 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Success
At 18, doctors gave him three hours to live. He played video games from his hospital bed—and now, he’s built a $10 million-a-year video game studio
By Preston ForeDecember 10, 2025
3 days ago
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Leadership
  • Success
  • Tech
  • Asia
  • Europe
  • Environment
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Health
  • Retail
  • Lifestyle
  • Politics
  • Newsletters
  • Magazine
  • Features
  • Commentary
  • Mpw
  • CEO Initiative
  • Conferences
  • Personal Finance
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map

© 2025 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.