Google is looking to get into wearables and eventually introduce Made by Google wearable devices. So Google bought Fitbit, the fitness tracker manufacturer, for $2.1 billion. Acquiring Fitbit is a good way for Google to expand into this area of technology to combine the wearable product with its software.
With this acquisition, there are concerns regarding data privacy and the potential of using the data for profit. However, Google states in their announcement that they will not use health and wellness data from Fitbit for its ads. Fitbit states in its own press release that the company will still take privacy for health and fitness data seriously.
Now, Google will be competing against Apple in the wearables market. Apple reported $5.5 billion in revenue from wearables (Apple Watch, AirPods, and the HomePod) in Q4 of 2019. Half of the market is currently dominated by Apple, therefore this will be an uphill battle for Google. We’ll see what wearables will come out of this business deal in the future.
