Google Pulls Out Fitbit Services and Products from Several Countries
Google’s acquisition of Fitbit a few years back seemed like the perfect scenario for a lot of fans and buyers, especially with Google’s dominance in software development and Fitbit’s expertise with health-tracking hardware. This partnership eventually resulted in products like the Google Pixel Watch, which is now in its second generation.
However, we’re seeing some concerning moves on behalf of Google’s part – the company recently announced that it will be withdrawing Fitbit products and services from several countries in the EU. According to Google’s official support page:
We are no longer selling Fitbit products in select countries—but don’t worry! We will continue to support you and the devices you currently own with software releases, security updates, warranty fulfillment, and access to customer service.
This change lists several countries in the EU which include Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, Romania, and Slovakia. Google adds that auto-renewals of Fitbit Premium memberships purchased in the aforementioned countries will stop effective October 24, 2023.
This move also affects several other countries in the Asia Pacific region, including Hong Kong, Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines, with membership auto-renewals ending on August 11, 2023. As such, this decision from Google has had a lot of users scratching their heads, given that Fitbit’s services and products have been available in those markets long before the Google acquisition.
Some have even gone so far as to speculate that Fitbit might end up being another casualty in the Google Graveyard, which most recently added Google Pixel Pass and Stadia to its list of discontinued services and products.
Source: Google