Jawbone, the company that produced Bluetooth headsets and wireless speakers before shifting entirely to fitness tracking services, has officially begun its liquidation proceedings, a new report from The Information says.
Jawbone Shuttering Its Doors
The report goes on to suggest that Hosain Rahman, Jawbone's CEO and cofounder, has already launched a brand-new startup called Jawbone Health Hub that'll focus on hardware and services involving health and fitness.
A number of Jawbone employees will join Rahman in his new fitness venture, and the report suggests that this new one will service existing Jawbone products once the company officially ceases to operate or even exist.
As The Verge reports, the shuttering comes after more than a year of financial struggles within the company, which paved the way for lackluster customer service, dwindling inventory, layoffs, and the departure of some key executives. All these occurred while the company suffered through a legal battle with fitness company Fitbit.
Jawbone Health Hub
Just recently, Jawbone began posting job openings that include references to "Jawbone Health." One such posting in Glassdoor, for instance, said that the new company takes in a lot of data, including heart rate, accelerometer readings, or readings from other sensors. The position seeks for an individual who can validate data and generate reports and visualizations of health data.
Last year, Jawbone was planning to shift to some type of clinical health product that it'll sell directly to other businesses instead of consumers. This past January, Jawbone halted customer support through social media entirely, meeting the ire of customers expecting to receive updates for their Jawbone Bluetooth speakers or UP fitness trackers.
But while Jawbone has officially announced its shutdown, its legal battles with Fitbit remain, ranging from trade secret lawsuits to claims of patent infringement.
Jawbone's Many Turmoil
Jawbone hasn't always faltered like this, but its transition to health and fitness tracking products and services didn't go so well as expected. Upon launching its first health tracker in 2011, turmoil inside the company in all aspects began to surface. What's surprising, though, is that Jawbone has raised a steep capital, more than $900 million from investors. Additionally, some big names in the tech world form part of its board.
Despite those merits, it still couldn't survive as a hardware company. Its shutdown adds to the overwhelming assumption that surviving in Silicon Valley, even if you've existed for a long time, is a difficult feat. Hopefully, Jawbone Health Hub finds more success than its predecessor.
