According to reports, Fossil stated that “for the next few years,” it will keep providing updates for its current line of Wear OS-powered smartwatches.
As per a report, Fossil Group declared its departure from the smartwatch market, citing it as a calculated decision. With the release of the Wear OS-powered Fossil Q Founder in 2015, the brand made its foray into the smartwatch market nine years ago. The Fossil Gen 6 smartwatch was released in 2021, while the Fossil Gen 6 Hybrid, the company’s final smartwatch, was released in 2022. With Fossil conspicuously absent at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2024, there were rumors that the company was considering going out of business.
On January 27, The Verge revealed that the corporation was leaving the category. The magazine was informed by Fossil’s Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Jeff Boyer, that the company made a strategic decision to leave the smartwatch business due to the notable changes in the smartwatch market. He went on, “Fossil Group is reallocating resources to support our core strength and the core business segments that continue to present us with strong growth opportunities.”
A Reddit user said last month that he had a conversation with a management of a firm retail store, and that manager informed them that Fossil will not be releasing a Gen 7 smartwatch. Later, it was believed that the smartwatch manufacturer was leaving the market because it was not present at CES 2024.
Fossil assured The Verge that it will continue to support the current smartwatches running Google’s Wear OS, despite reports that it is quitting the company. Updates for them are anticipated from the corporation “for the next few years.”
With the purported revelation, the Fossil Gen 6, which debuted in 2021, will be the company’s final generation of smartwatches. The Fossil Gen 6 Hybrid, which was announced in June 2022, was the company’s final product in India. The stainless-steel strap variant cost Rs. 19,173 at launch, while the leather and silicone strap variation cost Rs. 17,633.
The Fossil Gen 6 Hybrid has three side-mounted navigation buttons and a circular dial with two dial sizes—45 and 40.5 millimeters. The Fossil Q Intel Atom CPU powers the smartwatch. It has integrated compatibility for Amazon Alexa, which may be accessed through a dedicated microphone.
The wristwatch has many exercise modes, heart rate monitoring, blood oxygen (SpO2) tracking, and a step counter, among other health-related functions. For connectivity, Bluetooth v5.0 is supported. Depending on usage, the Fossil Gen 6 Hybrid is said by the company to give up to two weeks of batte
