Fitbit, leading in fitness wearables, has now been acquired by Google at a whopping sum of $2.1 billion; approx. for 150 crores.
After much anticipation, Google has finally acquired Fitbit under its hardware team – looking to integrate the latter’s hardware with Google’s software Wear OS. The deal has been made in all cash.
According to FitBit CEO, James Park, “It’s an opportunity to invest even more in Wear OS as well as introduce Made by Google wearable devices.” The company will continue to lead “platform-agnostic”, working with both Android and iOS devices in the future. Google has further stated, “FitBit health and wellness data will not be collected for ads, but certainly will be collected as it does with its other platforms.”
With Google’s wearable operating system in need of improvement and FitBit with a market capital of $1.6 billion, the merge could be of great support for the latter’s hardware strategy and kick-starting the former’s Wear OS system.
The deal is being expected to close next year, awaiting approval from FitBit shareholders and regulators.