Fossil is exiting the smartwatch business for good

Fossil is done making smartwatches. A company that’s been around in the smartwatch industry for quite a few years after releasing its first Wear OS quite some time ago, has confirmed that it will no longer be making smartwatches.

This comes after months and months of users waiting to learn about what Fossil’s next set of devices may be. The wait has been even longer still for users of existing Fossil smartwatches hoping to hear something about an update to Wear OS 4. Speaking to The Verge, Fossil spokesperson Amanda Castelli confirms the decision to leave smartwatches behind is a strategic one. “As the smartwatch landscape has evolved significantly over the past few years, we have made the strategic decision to exit the smartwatch business,” Castelli said.

The Gen 6 line will be the company’s last smartwatch, but Castelli does confirm Fossil plans to keep its existing watches updated. At least for the “next few years.” It’s not explicitly mentioned though if this is limited to security and stability updates. The hope for existing users is that Wear OS 4 would be around the corner. But with Fossil existing the business, that doesn’t seem likely now. Fossil watches already have Wear OS 3.5, which was pushed out last year.

With Fossil done making smartwatches, it will focus on its “core strength and the core segments”

This announcement might surprise some, but there were suggestions that Fossil might take this route back in December of 2023. At the time, several users on Reddit had claimed to have spoken to Fossil retail employees about the Fossil Gen 7. Those employees said the company wasn’t going to be making the device. While other users said Fossil was just waiting for a new chipset.

It seems there was truth to those claims. Fossil says it will now redirect resources to support its “core strengths and core segments.” Which refers to essentially everything it made before smartwatches. Leather goods, traditional watches, and jewelry are Fossil’s bread and butter. So the company is going to go back to focusing on putting out new products in those categories.

It’ll be a shame that Fossil is done though. It was one of the only companies releasing new devices consistently across a range of brands including its own Fossil brand, Diesel, Michael Kors, and others. Without Fossil in the business, Wear OS users will have a lot fewer options. Unless another company steps in to fill the void.

Those looking for good alternatives might want to consider something like the Galaxy Watch 6. It’s probably the best Wear OS watch on the market and it already has Wear OS 4 out of the box. It’s even rumored to get the next major version update ahead of other devices.