Pebble discounts Time smartwatches by $50 and starts selling Pebble Round in E.U. retail outlets

Pebble has made a handful of announcements today as the hardware startup looks to increase uptake of its popular smartwatch.

The price of Pebble Time, which first went on sale last July, has been slashed from $199 to $150, while the Pebble Round, which went to market last September at a price of $249, will now cost $200. Additionally, the Pebble Time Round will now be available for purchase at various retail outlets across Europe.

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Pebble helped kickstart — quite literally — the smartwatch industry back in 2012 when it broke all kinds of Kickstarter crowdfunding records to help bring its first smartwatch to market. And its second-generation model, the Pebble Time, became the most-funded Kickstarter project of all time last year.

While competition is fiercer than ever in the smartwatch realm, with the likes of Apple, Samsung, and Sony all staking their claims to a piece of the lucrative timepiece pie, Pebble has remained popular with an epaper device that promises longer battery life. But it has also resorted to cutting prices to remain competitive in the past, so today’s move isn’t without precedent. Moreover, by making its timepiece available in more third-party retail outlets, Pebble is looking to broaden its horizons and keep its products front and center with consumers.

In related news today, Pebble has revealed that its Pebble Health activity-tracking software, which launched just a few months ago, has been activated by more than 90 percent of Pebble Time users, with two-thirds of those using it on a weekly basis to track steps and sleeping habits. The company also plans rollout updates aimed at giving runners’ more data, as well as a new health section within the Pebble smartphone app that gives a holistic view of a users’ activity history.