Nokia will buy Withings for $191 million
The French health and wearables outfit will become a part of the former phone maker by the end of this year.
Nokia has announced that it's going to buy Withings for €170 million ($191 million). The French health and wearables company will become a division of Nokia Technologies, home to the Ozo Camera and N1 Tablet. It's another step towards Nokia's re-emergence as a consumer brand after Microsoft bought its phone division in 2013. In a statement, Nokia's Ramzi Haidamus said that his company is now uniquely positioned "to lead the next wave of innovation in digital health." Withings CEO Cedric Hutchings agrees, saying that he was "excited to join Nokia to help bring our vision of connected health to more people around the world."
Given the high quality and ease-of-use that you find in most Withings products, $191 million seems like a total bargain. The purchase itself isn't much of a surprise, since Nokia said that it wanted to branch out into health and wearables, as well as the internet of things market back in October. Withings kills both of those birds with one hefty stone, since in addition to connected scales and fitness tracking watches, Withings produces bed sensors and home monitoring cameras. The all-cash deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2016, and we're excited to see what the future holds for the new partnership.
