In a personal and heartbreaking announcement, Pebble is calling it quits. The smartphone manufacturer that started from the bottom has finally given up after getting into financial trouble. The former Kickstarter darling has had its fair share of success, generating at least $30 million from more than 100,000 backers.
Pebble was one of the pioneers that started the trend for wearable tech by releasing its first smartwatch back in 2013. In what Pebble faithfully saw as a heart wrenching goodbye, founder Eric Migicovsky announced the decision to shut down through a blog post on the official website.
Addressing Pebblers (term used for Pebble enthusiasts), the company said that they will no longer be producing Pebble watches. Despite being able to sell at least two million smartwatch units, Pebble crumbled under the pressure of big tech companies like Apple and Samsung.
Pebble: A Kickstarter Tale That Ended Too Soon
Pebble is widely regarded as the people's smartwatch. Its open ended programming allowed many users to tweak and make their own applications. So what really transpired in Pebble's early successes and eventual failure.
Pebble successfully raised $10.3 million in its first Kickstarter campaign in April 11,2012 that ended in May 18, 2012. They began selling the smartwatch units in July 2013 with the help of Best Buy, an American consumer electronics corporation. Within 5 days the units were sold out, prompting tech giants, Apple and Samsung to venture in the new wearable tech.
In 2014, Pebble unveiled the Pebble Steel at the CES 2014 and reach a milestone of selling 1 million units by the end of December 31, 2014. In 2015, Pebble once again raised $20.3 million in Kickstarter from 75,000 backers to launch the Pebble Time and Pebble Steel. Citizen who had interest at that time offered to buy the company for $740 million but Eric Migicovsky declined.
In the first quarter of 2016 Intel offered to buy Pebble for $70 Million bit was a gain refused by Migicovsky. Several news outlets have started to report Pebbles financial troubles. The company laid off 40 of its employees back in March. In November rumors spread that Fitbit is planning to buy Pebble for $40 million and finally in December 7, Eric Migicovsky Announced the company's end. Fitbit also released its acquisition statement on the same date.