Fossil quits smartwatches as Google's Wear OS loses major backer

Fossil Group has officially announced its departure from the smartwatch business. 

The company's executive vice president and COO Jeff Boyer confirmed the news to The Verge following months of intrigue regarding future releases, leaving a substantial hole in the Wear OS release calendar.

"As the smartwatch landscape has evolved significantly over the past few years, we have made the strategic decision to exit the smartwatch business," Boyer said.

“Fossil Group is redirecting resources to support our core strength and the core segments of our business that continue to provide strong growth opportunities for us: designing and distributing exciting traditional watches, jewelry, and leather goods under our own as well as licensed brand names.”

It means the Fossil Gen 6 watch released in 2021 winds up as the company's final flourish, though existing smartwatches were also confirmed by Boyer to be supported for "the next few years".

That should mean later releases - like the Gen 6 Hybrid Wellness Edition - and watches from brands under the Fossil Group umbrella, such as the Diesel On Griffed Gen 6 and Skagen Falster Gen 6, will still be useable in the immediate future.

As we say, the news follows plenty of puzzlement about the company's 2023 - a year in which we initially expected it to deliver Gen 7 devices with Qualcomm's Snapdragon W5+ platform. 

When that didn't happen, and the company also ghosted the CES show floor earlier this month, it became clear that something was brewing behind the scenes. 

So, with that, pour one out for the Fossil crew.