It has been confirmed by Google LLC that it would buy Fitbit, a health-tracking firm, for $2.1 billion by next year.
The stock of Fitbit got raised to 17 percent after the spread of this rumour. Alphabet – Google’s parent company saw a rise in its inventory by approximately 0.8 percent, as reported by CNBC. 7.35 dollars per share will be paid by Google in cash according to the deal.
The wearables market has already been dominated by Apple and Xiaomi. Google will now be on par with them after acquiring one of the leading health tracking companies – Fitbit. OS – Google’s wear, already provides apps and services like Runtastic and Google Fit. Fitbit has got the upper hand in comparison to these two because of its expertise.
According to Google’s Senior Vice President of devices and services, Google has made tremendous progress in this field with Google Fit and Wear OS, but even more significant investment is needed in Wear OS and Made by Google wearable devices are to be introduced into the market.
Fitbit has been the very best in the wearable industry and as a result, has created great products, a vibrant association of users, and experiences. Google will be able to encourage its innovation in the field of wearables by collaborating with Fitbit and its expert team. With the help of Fitbit, Google can collectively have the best AI, hardware, and software.
According to the executives from both Google and Fitbit, any kind of health data will not be used for advertisement purposes. Data transparency will be maintained according to the announcement made by Fitbit. Personal information has never been sold by Fitbit before, and the record will be managed by not using any kind of health data for Google ads.
The choice to move, review or delete the data will be provided to Fitbit users. Fitbit has made its name by offering activity trackers and smart devices which can be used by users to monitor their sleep patterns, exercise progress, and everyday activities. It was found in 2007, and since then it has sold more than 100 million devices and avouches to have approximately 28 million users.
The future products of Fitbit are expected to stay “platform agnostic” like before. The collaboration of Fitbit and Wear OS underlines the importance and progress of wearable tech.
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