Report: Google has made an offer to buy Fitbit

Google is reportedly trying to acquire Fitbit and has made an offer for the wearable tech pioneer, according to a Reuters report on Monday.

A ‘source familiar with the matter’ told the publication the company Google has made an undisclosed bid to acquire the firm and gain a larger foothold in the wearable market, amid the struggles of the Wear OS platform.

The report points out there are no guarantees talks will take place between the two tech titans over a potential sale, while neither party has commented on the Reuters story.

Related: Best Fitbit 2019

Back in September the same publication reported Fitbit was mulling the possibility of a sale as it struggled with the transition from fitness trackers to smartwatches. During that report, Reuters speculated that Google may be among the interested parties and now it has received information confirming that to be the case.

Google has already snapped up Fossil intellectual property pertaining to smartwatches for $40m, so the acquisition of Fitbit would certainly leave Google well placed to take on the might of the Apple Watch.

Whether Fitbit users would be quite as keen on Google owning all of the data those fitness trackers mop up remains to be seen.

Fitbit dominated the early wearable era alongside the likes of Jawbone, which it vanquished, and Pebble, which it purchased and used to build out the Fitbit OS software for its own smartwatches.

However, with a number of cheaper fitness trackers from Chinese manufacturers cutting into its wristband prospects, and the continuing dominance of the Apple Watch, the company has found it harder going in recent years, despite ever improving products.

In our review of the Fitbit Versa 2, our reviewer wrote: “The Fitbit Versa 2 is a solid smartwatch-come-fitness tracker that will meet most casual or newbie gym goers’ needs. However, the lack of an in-built GPS and a lacking developer app store will stop it appealing to serious athletes and dedicated smartwatch users.”