Google already has a sizeable number of brands under its name, and the list isn’t about to stop anytime soon. In light of the competition put forth by Apple Watch, the tech giant has announced its acquisition of wearable company Fitbit in a US$2.1 billion deal.
Deemed as “an opportunity to invest even more in Wear OS as well as introduce Made by Google wearable devices into the market,” the agreement will see Fitbit joining Google itself, much like the current-day Nest, which is now wholly under the company.
The purchase is but a logical move: Google has been trying to break into the wearables market to no avail – not when compared to its competitors, at least. Where the Apple Watch series continues to be a tempting prospect for fans, Google doesn’t have an outstanding signature model to boast about. Buying Fitbit would thus grant the team a solid foundation to improve and further the use of smart technology, as well as integrate fitness tracking into their existing suite of Google Fit apps.
There are some concerns, however. While Fitbit has assured users that privacy of health and fitness data will still be taken very seriously, Google’s track record of privacy protection isn’t the best, with them having received government complaints and lawsuits for experimenting with artificial intelligence and medical data.
In any case, Google should prove to be a strong alternative to the Apple Watch should everything work out in their favour – keep an eye out for this one.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
HSALS
