Watchmaker Fossil acquires wearable maker Misfit

Misfit, maker of the Shine wearables, among other things, comes into the hands of the popular watchmaker Fossil. The latter wants the technology behind the Misfit devices to provide its own watches with smart features.

The acquisition was confirmed by both companies to The Wall Street Journal. Fossil will pay approximately $260 million, or approximately $242 million, to acquire Misfit. It is intended that, once the acquisition is completed, the technology from Misfit’s Shine activity trackers will be incorporated into Fossil’s watches. This therefore concerns ‘ordinary’ watches that have ‘smart’ technology.

Whether Fossil’s future watches will be full-fledged smartwatches or just features built-in activity tracking is not yet known. Detailed data of future products was not given, although the first smart watches are already expected next year. Misfit founder Sonny Vu ​​will become CTO at Fossil, and will lead the development of the new wearables.

Meanwhile, Misfit’s current devices remain in stores despite the acquisition. Fossil is also interested in the techniques Misfit has developed to extend the battery life of its devices; for example, the Shine 2 has an estimated battery life of approximately six months on a CR2032 coin cell battery.

Fossil is one of the most popular watchmakers, with estimated annual sales of approximately 50 million units. The company also produces watches for other brands. Many traditional watchmakers are looking for ways to convert their conventional watches into smartwatches.