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Cash-strapped Pebble dumps 25% of staff to protect long-term future

Smartwatch pioneer Pebble is laying off 25 per cent of its employees, with 40 workers facing the chop.

The firm, which rolled out the Pebble Time and Pebble Time Round to mixed acclaim in 2015, says it has made the cuts to protect its long-term future.

In an interview with TechInsider CEO Eric Migicovsky, admitted “money is tight” at the company.

Migicovsky, whose Kickstarter-based idea took the tech world by storm, says it has struggled to follow up the crowdfunding success with similar support from Silicon Valley investors.

He said: “We’ve definitely been careful this year as we plan our products,” Migicovsky said. “We got this money, but money is pretty tight these days.”

The layoffs don’t necessarily mean the company is on death’s door, with Migicovsky promising to execute a vision that’ll still be pushing wearables forward in a decade.

He added: “We want to be careful. Pebble is in this for the long haul. We have a vision where wearables will take us in five to 10 years, and this is setting us up for success.”

See also: Pebble Time vs Apple Watch

Pebble’s unfortunate news comes in the same week Apple uncharacteristically decided to trim the Apple Watch starting price to £259/$299.

Although Apple has never published official figures, there’s a sense it be looking to boost sales for a new product that hasn’t sold in the manner it expected.

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Is the smartwatch revolution floundering before it has really gathered steam? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

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