Nokia has revealed that it is planning to acquire Withings in a €170 million deal that will accelerate its entry into the digital health market.
Withings has been most notable in recent times for its range of stylish fitness-tracking wristwatches, such as the Withings Activité Steel.
The French company also makes smart weighing scales, thermometers, baby monitors, and other connected health gadgets.
While Nokia sold its once-great smartphone business to Microsoft in 2013 and has largely concentrated its resources on the underlying mobile network business ever since, it’s evidently not done with connected consumer technology.
“We have said consistently that digital health was an area of strategic interest to Nokia, and we are now taking concrete action to tap the opportunity in this large and important market,” said Nokia president and CEO Rajeev Suri.
With this acquisition, Nokia is looking to strengthen its position in the Internet of Things, of which healthcare is expected to be one of the largest markets.
“Withings shares our vision for the future of digital health and their products are smart, well designed and already helping people live healthier lives,” said Nokia Technologies president Ramzi Haidamus.
Related: Best fitness trackers
For Withings’s part, CEO Cédric Hutchings says that the company is “excited to join Nokia to help bring our vision of connected health to more people around the world.”
The €170 million (£132 million) deal is expected to do through in Q3 of 2016, subject to the usual regulatory approvals.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
