Not even health care could save Jawbone

The rumors that Jawbone would turn into a health care company were almost true, but in reality, it will soon cease to exist. After years of struggling to grow its market share, the company finally caved and it’s now being liquidated so founder Hosain Rahman can concentrate on his new company Jawbone Health Hub. This company will reportedly continue to service existing Jawbone devices.

Jawbone long occupied an awkward area of the market. When wearables were relatively immature, the company built up a dedicated fanbase with its fitness bands. Since then, though, it hasn’t been able to compete with the likes of Fitbit, which better diversified its wearables offerings, and Apple, the maker of the world’s most popular smart watch.

Perhaps the most alarming thing about Jawbone’s rise and fall is that venture capital may have contributed to the company’s eventual demise, as Reuters reports. It will now be the second largest startup to fall after Solyndra, a now-defunct solar panel maker. With so much money pouring in, however, the firm was able to delay what eventually became the inevitable. At a lower valuation, Jawbone would have been an appealing acquisition years ago, according to Reuters.

Jawbone still has some valuable intellectual property, despite this. Its devices might not be the hottest things on the market, but its name holds some sway for people who were committed to the brand. Ultimately, the firm mismanaged its brand by allowing the company to deteriorate the way it did. It is more important now than ever to find a sustainable niche within the evermore cluttered wearables market. That’s why the company flirted with health care and why the Rahman is now abandoning wearables for that market.