Jawbone squashes rumors it's leaving fitness trackers behind

Jawbone UP fitness trackers are going to stick around after all
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Recently, there have been several reports speculating that Jawbone is getting ready to close its doors - but it appears this isn't the case.

In an updated statement we received from a Jawbone representative, the claims made by the initial blog outlet were wrong, and Jawbone will keep working on the UP line.

"Speculation that Jawbone is exiting the wearables business or going out of business altogether is false. This speculation appears to emanate from wrongful insinuations made in a blog post in which the reporter has since posted a 'Correction.'

"Unfortunately, other media picked it up before the reporter posted a correction and spread this false information. Jawbone remains wholly committed to innovating in and building great wearables products. The Company has never been more excited about its pipeline of technology and products and looks forward to sharing them when ready.

"We manage our inventory positions according to internal business processes, and strategic product lifecycle objectives. This situation is no different and we will continue to support all of our products in the marketplace."

Sounds like Jawbone isn't happy with what's been circulated but on the bright side, it doesn't seem like the company is shuttering its UP line or closing down.

Previously, Tech Insider stated 'a source close to the matter' revealed Jawbone halted UP production and sold the remaining trackers off to a third-party reseller.

Fortune also reported that Jawbone is getting rid of its speakers as well: "Jawbone has been working with third-party distributors to liquidate its remaining speakers in retail outlets."

We reached out to the company and only received the following reply from a Jawbone representative: "We're not commenting on the speculations made in the reports today."

Essential reading: How your fitness tracker works

It sounded like damning evidence that Jawbone has been quietly mopping up and hanging up its hat after a long battle with the likes of Fitbit, and smartwatches such as the Apple Watch.

We have been curious about the company's quietness and its the lack of new Jawbones but certainly didn't expect a complete shutdown. The launch of the UP2, UP3 and the UP4, which introduced mobile payments for the first time were not without hardware problems - and it wasn't the first time it ran into hardware snafus.

Despite lack of sales or news of upcoming products, we won't see the end of Jawbone - but perhaps a new direction that steers away from consumer products and into the enterprise space instead. Or maybe Jawbone's going to surprise us all with something fresh later this year.

Jawbone squashes rumors it's leaving fitness trackers behind


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Lily is a writer and editor specializing in tech, video games, marketing, education, travel writing, and creative fiction. 

She has over 10 years of experience covering the technology beat.

Lily has a passion for VR and AR technologies and was associate wearables editor at TechRadar US, before joining Wareable as US editor in 2016.

Lily will graduate in 2023 with an MFA in Creative Writing.

In her spare time, Lily can be found knee-deep in zine collaborations, novel writing, playing Dungeons & Dragons or hiking and foraging for mushrooms.


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