From smart to classic: Fossil Group's moves away from smartwatches

Photo: Fossil

Fossil Group has officially exited the smartwatch market, signalling a strategic shift towards focusing on its core strengths in traditional watches, jewelry, and leather goods. In an announcement, Fossil spokesperson Amanda Castelli explained the decision, citing the significant evolution of the smartwatch landscape in recent years.

The company, known for its prolific production of Wear OS smartwatches, has decided to channel its resources into areas that offer strong growth opportunities. Castelli stated, "Fossil Group is redirecting resources to support our core strength and the core segments of our business that continue to provide strong growth opportunities for us: designing and distributing exciting traditional watches, jewelry, and leather goods under our own as well as licensed brand names."

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Fossil introduces Gen 6 smartwatches

Fossil has unveiled its new Gen 6 smartwatches. These new wearables are running on Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 4100+ platform with the current generation of Wear OS. As we know, Fossil plans to roll out the update at a later date. This new chipset promises 85% improved performance over Wear 3100 with enhanced battery efficiency. It's expected to last up to 24 hours before needing a charge.

This new series comes with connectivity options, including Bluetooth 5 LE, Wi-Fi, and NFC SE. There isn't any LTE option. These smartwatches come with Google Pay and Google Assistant onboard. Even without LTE, you can take calls on this watch with its built-in mic and speaker.

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Fossil to launch Gen 6 Wear OS watches on Monday

Fossil's upcoming Gen 6 Wear OS watches are finally arriving. In an email sent to customers, Fossil teases that its Gen 6 smartwatches are "coming fast," and users should "check your email on Monday for first access to Fossil's newest, most advanced smartwatch." There's a countdown clock that points to sometime early on Monday morning. 

The Fossil Gen 6 lineup is expected to come with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 4100+ processor and more health tracking features like SpO2 readings. These won't launch as Wear OS 3 devices, though, but Google said an optional upgrade would be available sometime in 2022.

Source: 9to5Google