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Pebble CEO: An Apple Smartwatch Won't Stop Us

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Published: Tuesday, 12 Feb 2013 | 1:13 PM ET
thompson_cadie_2010_100.jpg By:

Technology Editor, CNBC.com

Source. Getpebble.com
Pebble Watches

The start-up company Pebble — which builds customizable smartwatches — isn't afraid of a little competition from the tech titan Apple.

Apple may be dabbling in the smartwatch space, according to recent reports, but Pebble won't cower away from competing with Apple and sell its business, said Eric Migicovsky, co-founder and CEO of Pebble, on CNBC's Squawk on the Street Tuesday.

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Pebble Watches Apple's Innovation
CNBC's Scott Wapner reports Apple's Tim Cook is still optimistic about growing the smartphone market. And Eric Migicovsky, Pebble CEO & co-founder, explains why he thinks more consumers are interested in wearable tech devices.

"I think we're in it for the long haul at this point. We're just at the beginning," Migicovsky said. "We've sold 85,000 devices just at the beginning of our company's life and I think we've got a lot more opportunity to see where this plays out right now."

Migicovsky said he couldn't comment on whether or not Apple or other companies had approached him about a possible acquisition of Pebble, but said that there is definitely a rise in interest among tech companies in creating wearable devices that communicate with a person's smartphone.

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"I think what's going on in the smartphone space right now is we are seeing more and more devices work with the smartphone and so with the massive market share that Apple has on the smartphone side, seeing other devices connect to the smartphone — almost as like a central part of connection to the Internet — I think it's a pretty big opportunity," he said.

These wearable devices that connect to a person's smartphone are also growing in popularity because more people are using apps to monitor different activities, such as their fitness or well-being, he said.

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However, if Apple gets into the smartwatch market, there is a chance it could incorporate smartphone capabilities into the actual watch and not just let the watch be the point of power. Migicovsky, though, said that he isn't afraid of this potential threat just yet because, as of now, technology isn't developed enough to put the computing power of a smartphone in a watch format.

"I think that there's a lot of technological limitations right now, on putting the computational power and battery life specifically in a watch form factor. And so with your smartphone being in your pocket, you can kind of leverage different battery technologies that allow for longer battery life," he said. "I think that cramming all of the components, and all of the technology of a smartphone into a wristwatch form factor hasn't really been done yet. I would be interested to see if anyone's been able to crack that code."

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Startup company Pebble, which builds customizable smartwatches, isn't afraid of a little competition from tech titan Apple.
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  • Editor of CNBC.com's Tech Section, always plugged in and yet also wireless.

  • Working from Los Angeles, Boorstin is CNBC's media and entertainment reporter and author of CNBC.com's "Media Money" blog.

  • Fortt is CNBC's technology correspondent, working from CNBC's Silicon Valley bureau and contributes to "Tech Check" on CNBC.com.