Nokia buys health & fitness gear maker Withings in deal worth $192 million

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in General Discussion
Nokia Technologies on Tuesday announced a planned takeover of health and fitness accessory maker Withings, in a deal valued at ?170 million, or about $192 million.




The deal should close in the third quarter of 2016, and see Withings absorbed into Nokia. The latter's CEO, Rajeev Suri, said that the deal is connected to a "strategic interest" in health, as well as "strengthening its position in the Internet of Things."

Withings makes a variety of health- and fitness-related products. It's perhaps best known for its smartscales, as well as the Activite, an iPhone-compatible smartwatch that looks and works like a conventional timepiece while still offering sleep and fitness tracking.

Since selling its mobile phone division to Microsoft, Nokia has mostly been focused on telecommunications infrastructure, and developing and exploiting patents. Buying Withings may allow the company to dip a toe back into the consumer marketplace, although Withings isn't as well-known a brand in the health and fitness space as Fitbit, Garmin, or Apple.

The mobile phone division did not fare well at Microsoft, which ended up cutting many thousands of former Nokia jobs as Windows phones failed to gain much traction, and the company as a whole worked to redirect its business strategy. Windows phones are still available, but control a tiny fraction of the smartphone market.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 8
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    I've no idea what markets Nokia serves anymore. They're flopping around like a dying fish.
    ceek74
  • Reply 2 of 8
    ceek74ceek74 Posts: 324member
    I heard Nokia was "seriously looking into" some old 8-track manufacturers.  Time to dust off that old NOK stock.
  • Reply 3 of 8
    phone-ui-guyphone-ui-guy Posts: 1,019member
    I've no idea what markets Nokia serves anymore. They're flopping around like a dying fish.
    You just don't see their non-consumer business. They were heavy into networking, cellular, etc and they still are. Most people only saw their phones which were the other side of the nework connection. Like everyone else in networking, looks like they have everything from cloud and datacenter in there too.

    http://networks.nokia.com/portfolio/portfolio-a-to-z
    SpamSandwichmike1cnocbui
  • Reply 4 of 8
    Now is the time to sell off, while people still think they have a chance at making it work. 
  • Reply 5 of 8
    I've not used Nokia mobile products, but have had a Withings Scale for a couple of years, use it daily, pre and post gym workouts and heavy biking and have had less than stellar results about 25% of the time, mainly with the program controlling stats as well as actual scale readouts. Fat percent jumping from15% to 30% after killer workouts/strict diet in prep for events; scale screen blacking out after few seconds; almost daily shifting on its own from lb to kg to st lb. This sounds like a complaint letter, but wondering if Nokia execs have used the scales or hoping their advanced technological expertise will guide the ship to safe harbor.
    edited April 2016
  • Reply 6 of 8
    buckalecbuckalec Posts: 203member
    Thought something was up  - probably just coincidence, but Apple have their camera in the header graphic but it was no longer listed for sale (it probably just was'nt selling)



  • Reply 7 of 8
    jeffj2hjeffj2h Posts: 10member
    I've been using the scale for a year and it's very good. It does mysteriously change units every few weeks, but the app and web site are great for tracking your weight over time. Steps data from the iPhone automatically go into the app/web also. I worry that Nokia will kill innovation, just as innovation has dampened at Nest since Google bought them. 
  • Reply 8 of 8
    dachardachar Posts: 330member
    jeffj2h said:
    I've been using the scale for a year and it's very good. It does mysteriously change units every few weeks, but the app and web site are great for tracking your weight over time. Steps data from the iPhone automatically go into the app/web also. I worry that Nokia will kill innovation, just as innovation has dampened at Nest since Google bought them. 
    I like the scale too. I have had the same problem with changing units. I think this may happen when the software is automatically updated over Wifi and then the scales defaults to its standard settings.

    I tried out the Activite watch. It did not work very well and the straps caused irratation to my skin so had to return it. Much happier with my Apple Watch.  
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