Welcome back Withings! Nokia sells its ailing health division.
One of the much loved pioneers of the wearable tech industry is back. Nokia has confirmed the sale of its underperforming health division back to Éric Carreel, co-founder and former chairman of Withings.
A number of parties had shown interest in buying the division including Google Nest and Samsung. The French government has been pushing for a sale back to a French owner, partly due to the country’s efforts to boost its presence in AI. Nokia Health bought the Withings health brand back in 2016 but its clear the acquisition did not pay off and sales had failed to meet growth expectations.
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Today’s announcement confirms the Withings name will be back. The outfit will continue to sell Nokia health products until the Withings brand is relaunched by the end of this year.
And who knows? Maybe we’ll even see the defunct Pulse Wave Velocity reintegrated into its top range smart scale. To the dismay of existing owners, Nokia had pulled the feature at the start of this year due to regulatory issues.
The outfit is planning to launch new products, too.
“From now on we must concentrate our efforts on developing tools capable of advanced measurements and the associated services that can help prevent chronic health conditions,” said Eric Carreel.
“Today’s technologies allow us to imagine solutions that have the potential to benefit the lives of millions of people, and our ambition is to ensure that we, as Withings, lead the way with technological advances and intuitive designs.”
What this means is not entirely clear. But it seems the company is looking beyond fitness trackers and smart scales to more complex health solutions.
“I am delighted to start working again with the brilliant teams that made the brand such a great success,” Carreel added.
“We have an exciting challenge ahead of us as we continue to push the boundaries of connected health.”
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