Rumours of Jawbone's demise dominate as Marketplace goes live

"Jawbone's finances are 'perilous' as wearable startup fails to make profit"

That's the worrying headline from an IBTimes report that quotes a lawsuit between the UP3 maker and Flextronics, a contracted manufacturer.

"Jawbone has materially (and repeatedly) breached the terms of a clear and unambiguous contract to the extent of over $20m in goods received but not paid for."

Must read: Everything you need to know about the Jawbone UP3

The report is born out of a Fortune magazine article that details the August 2014 legal action, which Jawbone has subsequently claimed was a result of “miscommunication between two partners”.

The US money mag also claims that the company isn’t profitable, is struggling to garner funding and suffered "a production glitch that caused Jawbone to sit out the critical Christmas selling season". Triple whammy.

We asked Jawbone for a comment and were simply told that the company never comments on financial speculation.

We hope the outlook isn't as grim as the reports suggest - Jawbone is one of the leading lights in the wearable world and, even with the UP3 shipping delays, expectations are high for the company's next-gen fitness tracker.

The Californian company 'gets' wearables and is firmly engaged in the connected self revolution. Further proof, if needed, is the recent launch of the Jawbone Marketplace - an online store offering third party IoT devices that tap into its UP ecosystem.

“At Jawbone, we embrace the promise of the Internet of Things. We can only put all this together if we work with other. This notion of an open ecosystem is critical to making the Internet of Things a success,” said Hosain Rahman, Jawbone's CEO.

That philosophy is realised in the new Marketplace that offers devices like the Nest thermostat and the SmartThings Kit, and subscriptions to platforms such as Sleepio and Fitocracy.

The Jawbone Marketplace is live now, check it out.