Newsletter
Jawbone has been generating a lot of media attention over the past few weeks, all for the wrong reasons. The company used to be among the leading accessory makers, especially headphones, Bluetooth headsets, and more recently, wearables, but in the last year, the company has struggled to keep its balance sheets under control. Stiff competition from the likes of Fitbit and Garmin has slowly eroded its sales and it seems that the company has decided that it won’t remain viable unless it sells off its wearable business, at least, that’s what the most recent rumor has been suggesting.
After reports surfaced claiming that Jawbone will not develop any more UP trackers and may even sell off its wearable business, the company issued a strongly-worded letter not only dismissing the claims, but also stating that it will release future products on the basis of product life cycle objectives and internal business processes. Regarding speculations about Jawbone selling off its wearables division, the company added that it “remains wholly committed to innovating in and building great wearables products,” despite the fact that no new wearables have so far been released this year. Lack of sales isn’t the only issue the company is grappling with at the moment. Jawbone has been embroiled in a series of patent lawsuits with Fitbit which have done it no favors and the company has also reportedly defaulted on a scheduled payment to a partner recently.
Even though Jawbone has been adamant that its businesses are going no where, reports have also surfaced claiming that Jawbone has been negotiating with one particular manufacturer to sell off the wearables business, which gains further relevance by the fact that the company allegedly froze production of fitness trackers in the United States earlier this year and sold existing inventory to a third party reseller. With no new fitness trackers either replacing or complimenting existing UP2, UP3 or UP4 trackers in the months that followed, the jury is still out on whether Jawbone is biding its time before launching a new range of products or if it wants to keep the publicity away until it finds a buyer.