Fitbit Looked To Buy Jawbone In 2016

In the battle over wearables, is it a case of buy or be bought?

As TechCrunch reported Thursday (Jan. 12), citing the Financial Times, the device maker Fitbit is in the midst of patent lawsuits with Jawbone and also tried to buy that company late last year. The price tag? Not quantified, but according to anonymous sources reached by the financial publication, it would have amounted to a “tiny fraction” of the $1.5 billion Jawbone had once sported and strategically might have been alluring for intellectual property. The offer was apparently rebuffed.

In recent months, Fitbit walked away from a patent suit, in part tied to what the firm said was due to Jawbone’s financial straits, along with an investor in the latter firm who has said that valuation of Jawbone’s stock amounted to being “worth nothing,” as TechCrunch reported.

Fitbit has been acquisitive as of late, buying up parts of Pebble and earlier this month buying Vector, a smartwatch firm.