Created an entirely new category — the fitness tracker — and built a cultural phenomenon. Shipped 20 million devices, hit 85% market share, and made 'Fitbit' synonymous with step counting. Built community by blogging struggles publicly during product development.
Apple Watch arrived in 2015 as an ecosystem play, not a hardware competitor. Fitbit stayed a closed point solution while Apple integrated seamlessly with health apps and services. From below, China's Mi Band at $15 took 25% market share instantly. Fitbit got caught in no man's land — too expensive to compete on price, too limited to compete on features.
Stock crashed 90% from peak. Google acquired them for $2.1B in 2019 — 80% below peak valuation. Founders left in 2024. Fitbit is now slowly dying inside Google's product line, a feature lost in reorganization.
