Facebook was also in the race to buy Fitbit, but Google paid double for the fitness tracking band

Fitbit would have given Facebook an easy entry into the wearables segment, where Apple is the leader.

Google made headlines this week when it announced that it will be acquiring Fitbit for $2.1 billion. Now, it’s being claimed that Facebook too was in the race to buy the struggling wearables company Fitbit.

According to The Information, social networking giant held talks to buy Fitbit, but Google was willing to pay double for the fitness tracking band. On late Friday, Google confirmed that it had agreed to buy Fitbit for $2.1 billion, a leading fitness tracker company.

It’s no surprise to see why Facebook was keen on to acquire Fitbit. Like Google, Facebook is also slowly and gradually getting into the hardware game. The company sells Portal smart displays and Oculus VR headsets. Facebook is also reportedly working on its AR Glasses.

Fitbit would have given Facebook an easy entry into the wearables segment, where Apple is the leader. The acquisition of Fitbit would have also provided the Mark Zuckerberg-run company the valuable health data. Fitbit has more than 28 million active users worldwide.

But even if Facebook had bought Fitbit, there was no certainty of the deal got approved by regulators. Google’s acquisition of Fitbit has attracted the attention of regulators in the US, who have accused the company of its practices and market power. The calls to break up tech giants like Google, Facebook, Amazon and Apple are getting louder.