Fitbit To Fire 6% Of Employees After Missing Q4 Forecast

The wearable gadget giant Fitbit recently had a terrible Q4, where its earnings report reflects disappointing performance that is set to completely miss estimates. As a result, it is now set to shed over 6 percent of its workforce. In a rather perplexing turn of events, however, Fitbit is now considering making smartwatches in order to keep up with future trends.

The current Q4 earnings report estimate by Fitbit placed profit for the quarter at $580, CNET reports. This is a huge letdown compared to the $750 that the company was previously expecting. The recent acquisition of Pebble placed an even bigger strain on the wearable device maker’s bottom line since it did cost the company a hefty sum.

According to Fitbit CEO James Park, however, the weak performance of Q4 isn’t as big of a deal as everyone is making it out to be. He says that the last fiscal quarter is always going to be tougher on forecasts.

"Fourth-quarter results are expected to be below our prior guidance range," Park’s statement reads. "However, we are confident this performance is not reflective of the value of our brand, market-leading platform, and company's long-term potential."

As for what the company is planning on doing in order to remain competitive in the years to come, it would seem that Fitbit is actually thinking about making a smartwatch, Mashable reports. Anyone following the recent acquisitions by the company would have likely already expected this development. However, the 2016 revenue for the smartwatch industry does not paint an encouraging picture.

Smartwatches like the Apple Watch and the Samsung Gear S3 haven’t really taken off as well as their makers might have hoped, with the market growth of the wearable units being rather sluggish. Then again, 2017 is looking at less competition, so Fitbit might just make it as an explicit smartwatch maker.