Surprising exit: Fossil no longer builds smartwatches
29.1.2024
Translation: machine translated
Fossil is no longer making smart watches. Instead, the fashion group wants to concentrate on analogue watches, jewellery and leather accessories.
Fossil has been one of the most prominent manufacturers of Android watches on the market since the early days of Wear OS and Android Wear. The American company has been building smartwatches since 2015, not only under the Fossil brand, but also for many sub-brands such as Armani, Diesel, Hugo Boss, Michael Kors and Skagen.
Now it's over, as Jeff Boyer, Chief Operationg Officer, confirmed to The Verge. The reason: "As the smartwatch landscape has evolved significantly in recent years, we have made the strategic decision to exit the smartwatch business."
Fossil wants to concentrate on its core business and deploy all its resources there. In other words, on traditional watches, jewellery and leather goods such as bags and wallets. The company has already reduced its workforce from 10,200 to 7,500 worldwide in 2021. Nevertheless, anyone who owns a Fossil watch will continue to receive updates over the next few years.
Fossil wanted to become number 2 after Apple
The move comes as a surprise because the strategy was completely different for a long time. As recently as 2017, the European headquarters in Basel said that Fossil wanted to become the number 2 in smart watches after Apple. At the time, 150 different models were launched within a year - and new designs and updated hardware were regularly launched on the market afterwards.
The 2021 Gen 6 was the last major upgrade. However, since no new model with Wear OS 4 was launched in 2023, unlike the competition, there were already rumours about Fossil's strategy. Now we know why nothing new has come along.
With Fossil, an important manufacturer of Android watches is disappearing from the market. Although it was not a technical leader, it was a design leader. The watches came onto the market in countless variants, so that everyone could find a suitable look.
Cover photo: Fossil
Lorenz Keller
Senior Editor
Lorenz.Keller@digitecgalaxus.chGadgets are my passion - whether you need them for the home office, for the household, for sport and pleasure or for the smart home. Or, of course, for the big hobby next to the family, namely fishing.
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