Devices & Diagnostics

Jawbone stops making Up fitness trackers, sells inventory

The Up liquidation may represent a pause or a clearing of the deck. Another report Friday said that Jawbone is working on a "Hail Mary" product, a clinical-grade wearable.

Jawbone UP2

Consumer gadget-maker Jawbone struggling with fitness trackers again.

Tech Insider reported late Friday that the San Francisco-based company has ceased production of its Up2, Up3 and Up4 fitness bands and has sold off all remaining inventory of the models to a reseller. Another report, from Fortune, said that Jawbone also was trying to unload its wireless speaker business.

Does this mean Jawbone is done with fitness trackers? Not exactly.

The Fortune story said the speaker sale is the result of wanting to “focus exclusively on its health and wearables business.”

The Up liquidation may represent a pause or a clearing of the deck. A third publication, The Verge, said Friday that Jawbone is working on a “Hail Mary” wearable. The story said:

The new Jawbone wearable will not be a fitness tracker, but is supposed to offer clinical-grade health tracking related to heart monitoring. (Tech Insider reported previously that Jawbone was looking into developing “clinical-grade fitness trackers.”) It’s unclear whether the new device will include the Up branding, these sources say, which may also be why previous reports suggest “Up” is going away. The new product is supposed to be announced later this summer, but it’s also unclear when exactly it will ship, since the product is undergoing a different type of testing than previous Jawbone wearables.

Jawbone didn’t comment on any of the three reports, but this is not the first time the company has had trouble with fitness bands.

In December 2011, the company recalled its original Up and offered full refunds to all buyers. The product relaunched nearly a year later.

A year ago, Jawbone sued more successful rival Fitbit, claiming patent infringement, and has since levied more claims. Those cases are pending.

Photo: Jawbone

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