Google Plans to buy Fitbit for Healthcare
Reuters

Earlier this week, Google announced its plans to buy Fitbit for a whopping $2.1 billion, which is way more than the $1.65 billion they spent on Youtube. Google plans to buy Fitbit to create a powerful technology using the best software, hardware, and Artificial Intelligence technology. The Fitbit technology will help the company create new wearable products that would technologically benefit people from all over the globe.

Fitbit piloted it's first-ever product in the year 2009. During that time, the activity tracker technology was not yet integrated into smartphones. It was primarily networked to a sole station that needed to be tethered to its user's computer. The clip-on device was allowed to show some basic information but the website of the product was the real go-to to acquire a complete view of its user's activity information.

It had evolved since its first launch in 2009. Fitbit is becoming a famous accessory device. It became popular for its applications accessed through the smartphone which in the past was impossible. Its mobile application enables the device to function as a sleep tracker, assist social networking, and subscription coaching. These features had caused the company to earn a good name in the fitness-wearable industry.

Google plans to buy Fitbit to compete with Apple's Apple Watch technology. The multination tech company plans to penetrate the healthcare industry, and acquiring Fitbit brings them one step closer to their goal.

Fitbit was the gate that opened decades of wearable technology innovation geared towards connectivity technologies such as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity. Even though Fitbit's records in the wearables market has loosened its grip for the past 3 years, it already made its legacy in the wearables industry.

Upon the boom of the wearable industry, many companies had started big and ended badly. Fitbit survived as it was acquired by big technological companies. In the present, big technology companies leading the global market for wearables in the 2nd quarter of 2019 such as Apple, Huawei, and Xiaomi are focusing on investing in health tracker technologies. Google plans to buyt Fitbit to compete with these companies.

There is still uncertainty about the survival of the small wearable companies who are competing for a competitive sport in the wearable market. If Google's plan to acquire Fitbit will be allowed by regulators, it may present positive effects to having this large technology company contribute to the global health sector.

Upon the success of one of the world's technology giants, the next issue will be the safekeeping of the personal information of the technology's users. As big technology companies play in the wearable products market, they will also have the opportunity to access and keep the personal health information of their users. The challenge for these companies are the mechanisms that they will employ to safeguard the personal information of their customers.

The regulators will help limit problems regarding the safety of customer information by questioning Google where it will use the technology and where it will use the information it will be gathering.

Google plans to buy Fitbit to combine different technologies into powerful products. The acquisition of Fitbit by Google will be a good contribution to the global health sector as long as it will be used by the company for the public benefit and safeguard the information it will be possessing.