In a bid to enter the already crowded wearable-technology field, Google has acquired Fitbit, the famous wearable device company, for a whopping $2.1 billion. The deal is expected to close in 2020.
Both the companies saw a surge in their shares post the news.
In a blog post announcing the news, Rick Osterloh, Google SVP of devices and services, said that Fitbit purchase is “an opportunity to invest even more in Wear OS as well as introduce Made by Google wearable devices into the market.”
Fitbit, a pioneer in the fitness tracking and wellness arena, has sold over 100 million devices and has more than 28 million users across the world. James Park, the CEO of Fitbit, said that Google was the ideal partner for the company at this stage.
“With Google’s resources and global platform, Fitbit will be able to accelerate innovation in the wearables category, scale faster, and make health even more accessible to everyone,” said Park.
Google put up a post on social media, saying that by means of the collaboration, the two organizations “aim to spur innovation in wearables and build helpful products to benefit more people around the world.”
We’ve signed an agreement to acquire @Fitbit. Together, we aim to spur innovation in wearables and build helpful products to benefit more people around the world. https://t.co/HSfQVWnHJB
— Google (@Google) November 1, 2019
While Google has been creating software used for smartwatches since half a decade now, it has struggled to gain a foothold into the hardware market with stiff competition from Apple and Samsung. This deal might help the internet behemoth make inroads into the wearable market arena.
Putting at rest the unease that Fitbit users have in terms of data privacy and security, Osterloh said, “We understand this is a big responsibility, and we work hard to protect your information, put you in control and give you transparency about your data. Similar to our other products, with wearables, we will be transparent about the data we collect and why.”
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