Neil Hughes
Silicon Valley venture capitalists are reportedly turning down requests from smartwatch maker Pebble for funding, leading to speculation that the company may be struggling following the launch of the Apple Watch.
Citing sources close to the company, TechCrunch reported on Wednesday that Pebble instead obtained a $5 million loan and another $5 million line of credit from a bank, after efforts to secure venture capital funding were denied.
Pebble's alleged troubles come in spite of the fact that the company raised more than $20 million on Kickstarter for its latest model, the Pebble Time. That blockbuster success amounted to the largest crowdfunding campaign in history.
But while Pebble has found success as a startup, its total sales pale in comparison to wearable devices sold by larger, more established companies. It's estimated that Pebble sold 700,000 devices in 2014, earning just 7 percent of smartwatch profits with its low-end strategy.
Targeting the low end of the fledgling smartwatch market may be a difficult path for Pebble to navigate, as sources reportedly indicated to TechCrunch that the company needs funds "in order to stay afloat."
The forthcoming Pebble Time will take on the Apple Watch with a color, always-on e-ink display that will offer up to 7 days of battery life before a recharge is necessary. The Apple Watch, meanwhile, must be recharged daily, and its OLED screen turns off when the device is not being used.
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78 Comments
Microsoft should buy it.
I really don't like to see the "little guy" lose but this was inevitable, sadly. Apple will take out the mid & upper tiers of the smart watch market leaving the rest of the competitors the bottom end. You're going to need a really good product to survive and even that may not be enough. I hope Pebble makes it through and can carve out a profitable business - looking extremely doubtful though.
No surprise whatsoever. Thankfully though, Fandroids say the AppleWatch is gonna be a huge failure once the initial hype wears off. So don't worry 3rd-rate competitors. After all the fitness, medical, and media ecosystems that are building-up around the AppleWatch take a dump in another 10 years, you'll get your shot. /s
I find this pretty hard to believe and unfortunate too.
Prior to the Apple Watch, these guys were the innovators in the space , and they brought a truly functional device to market.
Though I as well am now wearing an Apple Watch, thus supporting the potential theory that existing users were migrating, I'm sure not everyone will do that.
I still think there is room in that space for a device like that. It's the lower end really.
While my new Watch has many more features than the 1st version Pebble did, for well over a year the watch I had provided me with consistent notifications, weather and more. It also functioned as an amazing running watch using iOS App iSmoothRun, and I really loved the battery life - 5 to 6 days.
Their new watch TIME seemed compelling enough for many to pre-purchase, so I still think there might be some bank left to Pebble. I mean, can the largest crowdfunding success ever really be just a simple byline to this story? I hope not.
Love my new Watch, but hope the folks that constantly worked to make Pebble better - they did updates all the time - and the App developers who really were innovative, they deserve to succeed here. I wish them nothing but continued success.
They're new watch is and color screen are incompatible with the original b/w screen model. That won't help. The new models will be more expensive as well, in order to accommodate the new functionality. But no matter what, it's still a cheap design, without a touch screen. The colors of the ink screens are terrible, as well, making anything other than mild graphic visuals unpleasant. The screen is pretty small too, as can be seen by the pics. The original model has a lot of apps, but they really don't so all that much. There are problems with alerts, like Android Wear, you can turn alerts off or on, that's it. But at least Android Wear is moving in that area to come somewhat closer to how Apple does it. I don't know how much trouble they're in yet, as the $20 million they raised will carry them through the launch of the new product lines. They may be looking for capital longer term.