Intel eliminates wearables division to focus on augmented reality

By

Rebecca Taras

Published
Jul 24, 2017

Following a November 2016  announcement that Intel— an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California—laid off 80 percent of its team responsible for the creation of the Basis smartwatch, comes the recent news that the company has dissolved the remaining 20 percent of the staff due to the elimination of its health wearables division, to include trendy fitness trackers.

A slow burn, Intel has been reportedly disassociating itself with the wearables sector for many years and has not referenced the channel since 2014. While it was reported that Intel was making plans to retract from the Basis watch plan after grim retail results, the company denied such an agenda. Regardless, Intel originally had pie in the sky dreams of owning the wearables space along with competitors like Apple and Fitbit.

Despite recent news, Intel’s website proceeds to advertise its Curie chipset, which is focused on showcasing Internet-related wearables and partnerships with other watchmakers like Tag Heuer.