One-time mobile phone giant Nokia has announced it's
planning to buy French health and wearables company Withings for a cool
US$191 million (about £131m, AU$247m).
It means Withings will become a specific part of Nokia
Technologies, joining the likes of the Ozo camera and N1 Tablet
divisions.
Microsoft bought the phone division of Nokia in 2013, and the Finnish company has been looking for ways to re-enter the consumer space ever since.
Back on its feet
Rajeev Suri, president and CEO of Nokia said: "With this
acquisition, Nokia is strengthening its position in the Internet of
Things in a way that leverages the power of our trusted brand, fits with
our company purpose of expanding the human possibilities of the
connected world, and puts us at the heart of a very large addressable
market where we can make a meaningful difference in peoples' lives."
Withings CEO Cédric Hutchings said: "Since we started
Withings, our passion has been in empowering people to track their
lifestyle and improve their health and wellbeing.
"We're excited to join Nokia to help bring our vision of connected health to more people around the world."
Nokia has been open with its intention to break into the
health and wearables space, and buying a respected company like Withings
is an obvious way of doing so.
Withings produces a variety of products, including fitness
trackers and home appliances including connected scales, bed sensors and
security camera equipment.
Nokia's purchase will be all-cash, and it's expected to
close the deal within the third quarter of 2016. Whether we'll soon be
seeing Nokia-branded fitness products remains to be seen.
Post a Comment