Monash University’s Professor Chongwoo Choe, Director of the Centre of Global Business (CGB), and Associate Professor Zhijun Chen, coordinator for CGB’s Digital Economy Research Network, are leading the fight against the acquisition, alongside a group of the world’s leading economists, after their research raised concerns.

“Sensitive health data held by Fitbit can be added to users’ personal profile Google aggregates from its other services, such as emails, maps and online searches,” Choe said. “While Google says it would not use Fitbit data for advertising purposes, this doesn’t rule out Google’s use of this data in other markets, such as health care.

“By connecting Fitbit data with user data from Google’s Cloud Healthcare API, Google can build a more comprehensive patient profile and offer more personalised health care.”

The research acknowledges that access to richer datasets means businesses can offer more personalised products and services. However, it warns that this increased personalisation can lead to price discrimination and consumer exploitation.

It’s also suggested that Google’s aim is to protect its data empire, integrate functionalities, and monetise information through its range of digital properties. The point is made that Google’s Workspace services make revenue through the collection of consumer demographic, interest, and location data rather than directly through the sale of ads.

The European Commission already opened up an ‘in-depth’ investigation into Google’s proposed acquisition of Fitbit back in August, stating that it is “concerned that the proposed transaction would further entrench Google’s market position in the online advertising markets by increasing the already vast amount of data that Google could use for personalisation of the ads it serves and displays”.

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The concession was made by the deadline given to Google by EU regulators yesterday (13 July). Now, those regulators have until 20 July to decide if Google’s offer is enough to green light the acquisition, if they want more concessions, or if they want to launch a full four-month investigation into the purchase.

“This deal is about devices, not data. We appreciate the opportunity to work with the European Commission on an approach that safeguards consumers’ expectations that Fitbit device data won’t be used for advertising,” Google told Reuters, who first reported the story.

Privacy advocates and regulators in Europe and the US have been concerned about the acquisition since it was announced, even with Google always insisting it wouldn’t use Fitbit’s data for ads.

It’s believed that the European Commission will reach out for feedback from rival wearable-makers – such as Apple, Samsung, Xiaomi, and Huawei – users to help it make a decision.

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Fitbit, which has sold over 100m devices, and Google are assuring users that their personal information and Fitbit health and wellness data will not be used for Google ads, promising to continue to remain transparent about any data that is collected.

“Fitbit has been a true pioneer in the industry and has created terrific products, experiences and a vibrant community of users,” said Rick Osterloh, senior vice president of devices & services at Google. “Were looking forward to working with the incredible talent at Fitbit, and bringing together the best hardware, software and AI, to build wearables to help even more people around the world.”

In a separate blog post, Osterloh added: “Over the years, Google has made progress with partners in this space with Wear OS and Google Fit, but we see an opportunity to invest even more in Wear OS as well as introduce Made by Google wearable devices into the market. Fitbit has been a true pioneer in the industry and has created engaging products, experiences and a vibrant community of users. By working closely with Fitbit’s team of experts, and bringing together the best AI, software and hardware, we can help spur innovation in wearables and build products to benefit even more people around the world.

“Google aspires to create tools that help people enhance their knowledge, success, health and happiness. This goal is closely aligned with Fitbit’s long-time focus on wellness and helping people live healthier, more active lives.”

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Wrist-worn wearables continue to dominate the market, accounting for a 63.2 per cent share. However, ear-worn devices experienced the fastest growth (135.1 per cent) and accounted for 34.6 per cent of all wearables shipped – much of this can be attributed to Apple’s AirPods.

“The elimination of headphone jacks and the increased usage of smart assistants both inside and outside the home have been driving factors in the growth of ear-worn wearables,” said Jitesh Ubrani, research manager for IDC mobile device trackers. “Looking ahead, this will become an increasingly important category as major platform and device makers use ear-worn devices as an on-ramp to entice consumers into an ecosystem of wearable devices that complement the smartphone but also offer the ability to leave the phone behind when necessary.”

Apple is still dominant the force in the wearable market, thanks to its Apple Watch, AirPods, and select Beats headphones. The company shipped 12.8m units in Q1 2019, representing a 25.8 per cent market share and year-over-year (YoY) growth of 49.5 per cent. Despite the growth, it actually suffered a one per cent decline in market share.

Xiaomi picked up the second spot in the list, thanks to the popularity of its Mi Band, which accounted for around 5m of its 6.6m wearable sales. This gave it a 13.3 per cent market share, gaining Apple’s lost one per cent, and growth of 68.2 per cent.

Third spot was taken by Xiaomi’s Chinese counterpart, Huawei. The company, which is facing a host of international problems over security concerns, recorded a massive 282.2 per cent growth in sales, jumping from 1.3m in Q1 2018 to 5m in Q1 2019. Its market share also leaped from 4.1 per cent to 10 per cent.

Samsung picked up fourth spot with 4.3m sales, jumping 151.6 per cent, while Fitbit shipped 2.9m units.

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Fitbit users will now be able to use Fitbit Pay to travel on seven major transportation systems around the world, starting this week. As part of the Fitbit Pay expansion, Fitbit has announced a unique partnership with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (MTA) One Metro New York (OMNY) contactless fare payment pilot program. New Yorkers with a Fitbit Charge 3 Special Edition, Fitbit Versa Special Edition or Fitbit Ionic will be able to tap their device to a MTA reader on select subway lines and city busses.

“We’re excited to work with Fitbit and others to help us provide added value and everyday convenience to our customers,” said Al Putre, OMNY executive director, MTA. “We are always looking for ways to enhance the transit experience and help New Yorkers and visitors alike get to their destination faster and make payment more convenient, and now they can do so with any Fitbit wearable that supports Fitbit Pay with a simple tap of the wrist.”

Fitbit Pay can also be used through-out the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), Singapore Land Transport Authority (LTA), Sydney transport for New South Wales (NSW), Taiwan iPASS, TransLink in Vancouver and Transport for London (TfL). Fitbit also plans to make Fitbit Pay available on the entire New York Subway and Bus System by 2021.

“In addition to helping our users get healthier and more active, we’re committed to delivering holistic experiences on our trackers and smartwatches that help keep our 27m active users engaged,” said James Park, CEO and co-founder of Fitbit. “As we expand the use of Fitbit Pay to work with the MTA and other major transit systems around the globe, we are enabling our on-the-go customers to safely and easily pay for transit with devices that are broadly compatible and have long battery life – all making it easier to go about their day.”

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The iPhone maker’s smartwatch market share fell to 43.35 per cent in second and third quarter of last year – it’s lowest point since the same time in 2017. However, Apple is still way out in front of its competitors with Fitbit, Huawei, and Samsung all sitting at around eight per cent each.

“The smartwatch market is a major part of the overall wearables market, offering consumers access to a large number of wearable features, such as fitness tracking, notifications, and heart rate monitoring, from the wrist,” said Stephanie Tomsett, research analyst at ABI Research. “As the number of flagship and budget smartwatches continues to grow, consumers are increasingly opting for devices from companies other than Apple, such as Fitbit, Huawei, and Samsung. Hence, Apple has seen its market share drop over the past couple of quarters.

“Apple will continue to ship a large number of smartwatches to both loyal and new customers,” continued Tomsett. “However, with so many other smartwatches available with most of the major features of the Apple Watch, at a reduced price, increased battery life, or with greater compatibility with a larger number of smartphone OSs, more consumers are likely to move away from Apple in favor of these other devices.”

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The Fitbit Charge 3 has a similar look to the Charge 2 but this time comes with an aluminium case and a Gorilla Glass 3 screen. And it comes with a touchscreen OLED display, which is nearly 40 per cent larger and brighter than the previous model and supports grayscale graphics.

The fitness tracker also comes with an ‘inductive button’, instead of a physical one, lending to the devices swimproof design and increased space for sensors and a seven-day battery life.

Fitbit promises better accuracy from its PurePulse heart rate technology during exercise, while also providing a better measure of calorie burn and resting heart rate. In addition, it has added the SpO2 sensor found in its smartwatches, allowing for the potential to estimate changes in blood oxygen levels.

Other new health and fitness features include goal-based exercise modes, enabling the user to set a goal for calories burned, distance, or duration, and see real-time stats, progress, and celebrations when they reach their goal; a new on-device dashboard to see daily activity stats and health metrics; a way for females to log their period and ovulation; and more.

Sticking with the theme of creating a smartwatch-like fitness tracker, Fitbit has introduced app notifications, calls, texts, and calendar reminders. And soon, Android users will be able to accept or reject calls and respond when on the move with pre-populated or custom quick replies.

There are also new ‘essential’ apps like alarms, timer, and weather, while ‘popular’ brand apps will eventually make their way to the device in the future.

“With Charge 3, we are building on the success of our best-selling Charge franchise and delivering our most innovative tracker, offering an extremely slim, comfortable and premium design, along with the advanced health and fitness features our users want,” said James Park, co-founder and CEO of Fitbit. “Charge 3 gives existing users a compelling reason to upgrade, while also allowing us to reach new users who want a sleeker, more affordable wearable in a tracker form factor.

“Our commitment to consumer choice and ability to meet the demand of millions of users by offering a range of products, from trackers to smartwatches, will enable us to expand our share of the overall wearables market.”

The Charge 3 will come in two models: a standard $149.95 (£129.99 in the UK) edition and a $169.95 (£149.99) special edition with NFC features and Fitbit Pay functionality.

Both models are available to preorder on the Fitbit website and from select online retailers in either black with graphite aluminium case or blue gray with rose gold aluminium case. The special edition comes with an additional band in the box.

The Charge 3 and Charge 3 Special Edition will hit stores at the beginning of October 2018 in the Americas and EMEA, while Asia Pacific will get their hands on the devices in November 2018.

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According to Canalys, the tech behemoth sold 30 per cent more Apple Watches than Q2 2017 in reaching 3.5m shipments globally, as the smartwatch market reached 10m units sold with Fitbit and Garmin also performing strongly.

As a result of strong growth elsewhere in the market, Apple’s share fell from 43 per cent in Q1 2018 to 34 per cent in Q2 2018.

“Apple faces a growing threat from competitors, which have started to pass the million quarterly shipments mark,” said Vincent Thielke, research analyst at Canalys. “Vendors are trying to differentiate their products with advanced heart-rate metrics, smart coaching and mapping, and consumers have a much wider range of smartwatches to choose from than they did a year ago.

“Amid further competition from Samsung and Google, rumoured to be launching Galaxy and Pixel watches respectively, Apple needs to work out how to drive refreshes in the markets such as the US, where its penetration into the existing iPhone installed base has started to level off.”

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The partnership will see Fitbit use Google’s recently created Cloud Healthcare API to connect its wearable devices to electronic medical records. Through the combination of Fitbit data and medical records, Google and Fitbit hope clinicians will be able to offer more personalised care to patients.

The Cloud Healthcare API will also be used by Fitbit’s Twine Health to make it easier for doctors and patients to collaborate on care.

“At Google, our vision is to transform the way health information is organized and made useful,” said Gregory Moore MD, PhD, vice president of healthcare at Google Cloud. “By enabling Fitbit to connect and manage key health and fitness data using our Google Cloud Healthcare API, we are getting one step closer to this goal. Together, we have the opportunity to deliver up-to-date information to providers, enhancing their ability to follow and manage the health of their patients and guide their treatment.”

As a result of the deal, Fitbit is set to move to Google’s Cloud Platform, while Google has said it is committed to meeting the requirements for security and privacy in the healthcare industry.

The final element of the partnership will see Fitbit leverage its brand, community, data, and devices alongside Google’s expertise.

“Working with Google gives us an opportunity to transform how we scale our business, allowing us to reach more people around the world faster, while also enhancing the experience we offer to our users and the healthcare system,” said James Park, co-founder and CEO of Fitbit. “This collaboration will accelerate the pace of innovation to define the next generation of healthcare and wearables.”

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The All of Us research program was setup by President Obama in 2015. It was previously known as the Precision Medicine Initiative. The program aims to enrol 1m or more US citizens, so that it can take a look at their anonymous health data with the view of looking at their individual differences and using its findings to deliver precision medicine.

To further this research, the research program will provide up to 10,000 Fitbit Charge 2 and Fitbit Alta HR devices to a representative sample of its volunteers for a one-year study. The information gained from this study will be used to provide recommendations on how the devices could be incorporated more broadly into the program.

“As part of the global shift towards precision medicine, wearable data has the potential to inform highly personalised healthcare,” said Adam Pellegrini, general manager of Fitbit Health Solutions. “Through this historic initiative, we will be able to see the role that Fitbit data can play on the path to better understanding how individualisation can help to prevent and treat disease.”

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