Wearable fitness tracker maker Jawbone is laying off 15 percent of its workforce and closing down its office in New York as part of a wider reorganization efforts to lower the company's expenses.
The company, based in San Francisco, has laid off around 60 employees, and has reduced operations in Sunnyvale, California and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Jawbone was one of the first companies to venture into the industry of wearable fitness trackers, wireless speakers and headset. The pioneer, however, was recently seen intensifying competition in the industry from companies including Apple and Fitbit.
Jawbone is laying off its workers within a reorganization initiative that comes at a time of pressure in the wearable technology industry.
"The restructuring was necessary in making our organization more efficient, streamlined, and well structured for future growth," said Jawbone spokeswoman Mimi Huggins in an e-mail, adding that there are no planned further changes.
The space is becoming crowded and increasingly competitive, which has forced several companies in the industry to close down and sell their businesses. Last week, startup company Misfit, known for manufacturing wearable fitness trackers, was acquired by luxury watchmaker Fossil Group for $260 million. The deal combines the traditional watches of Fossil with the modern fitness trackers of Misfit, with Fossil stating that it will start to incorporate the technology of Misfit into the company's watches as early as next year. Last year, fitness tracker maker Basis Science was acquired by Intel for an amount that was not disclosed.
GGV Capital managing partner Jenny Lee said that the wearable devices industry is currently at a time of consolidation, stating that the market will likely transform into one that caters to specific tasks with wearable devices designed for a certain purpose. The change would then allow lower-cost competitors to enter the space.
Jawbone, which was founded in 1999, has made a list of consumer devices that include Bluetooth-enabled headphones, Jambox speakers and Up fitness trackers. The company sold around 500,000 fitness trackers for the second quarter, which is only a fraction of the reported 3.6 million units that Apple has sold for its Apple Watch and the 4.4 million units that Fitbit has sold for its fitness trackers.
