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Fossil Group has decided to call it quits on smartwatches.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The company announced this afternoon that it would leave the smartwatch business and redirect resources to its less-smart goods instead. The company has been one of the most prolific makers of Wear OS smartwatches over the years, and its absence will leave a large gap in the market.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cAs the smartwatch landscape has evolved significantly over the past few years, we have made the strategic decision to exit the smartwatch business,\u201d Fossil spokesperson Amanda Castelli tells The Verge<\/em>. \u201cFossil Group is redirecting\u00a0resources to support our core strength and the core segments of our business that continue to provide strong growth opportunities for us: designing and distributing exciting traditional watches, jewelry, and leather goods under our own as well as licensed\u00a0brand names.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n This means that the Gen 6, which first launched in 2021<\/a>, will be the last Fossil smartwatch. Castelli says the company will continue to keep existing Wear OS watches updated \u201cfor the next few years.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n This shouldn\u2019t come as a huge shock if you\u2019ve been paying attention to Fossil the past few months. Some Reddit<\/a> users had been reporting Fossil retail employees as saying Fossil was pulling out of the business, while others on the platform claiming \u201cinsider\u201d knowledge said the company was waiting for a new chipset<\/a>. The company regularly put out smartwatches through Wear OS\u2019s toughest years and was often a permanent fixture at CES. However, the company was notably absent from the show earlier this month. What\u2019s more, Fossil was expected to announce news of a new Gen 7 featuring the Qualcomm Snapdragon W5 Plus<\/a> platform in 2023 \u2014 however, it was nothing but crickets the entire year. Well, now we know why.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n