Do you know Nokia bought Withings for 170 million euros?

March 13, 2020

Acquired by Nokia Technologies in 2016, the Withings was renamed in June 2017 Nokia Technologies and marketed its products under the Nokia Withings Health brand. At the end of May 2018, Nokia Technologies France was acquired by Withings co-founder Eric Carreel and resumed its initial name.

Nokia bought the French company Withings for the sum of 170 million euros. Whoever was the largest mobile phone manufacturer in the world wants to take it one step further in the smart health connected health and internet of things industry.

This agreement is therefore a sign that Nokia is very interested in the Internet of Things and devices such as health trackers, blood pressure monitors, thermometers, etc. But not only !

I think what also and above all interests the brand is the possibility of offering cloud computing services to all users of these smart health connected objects. “We have always said that digital health is an area of ​​strategic interest to the Finnish, and we are taking concrete steps to seize the opportunity in this large and important market,” said Rajeev Suri, President- general manager of Nokia. This purchase will also allow the brand to rebuild its image by once again offering mass consumption products that consumers appreciate.

Nokia is expected to complete the transaction in the third quarter of this year. As a reminder, Withings had raised just under $ 34 million from investors like BPIFrance, Idinvest, Ventech and 360 Capital Partners. The company was co-founded by Eric Carreel and Cédric Hutchings in 2008; both are expected to join Nokia. To date, it employs 200 people in France, the United States and Hong Kong.

Personally, I am not surprised by this takeover. I got wind of it thanks to some noises from the corridors and some confidances. Now the question is whether Nokia will continue to develop products, with the talent and the frequency with which Withings has done, or whether it will try to exploit or overuse the existing fleet of smart health connected objects.

Historical

The Withings company was founded in June 2008 by three engineers: Éric Carreel, Cédric Hutchings and Fred Potter. Éric Carreel is co-founder of Inventel (sold to Technicolor in 2005), Sculpteo, Invoxia and Zoov; and Fred Potter, co-founder of Cirpack, also acquired by Technicolor. The latter left Withings in 2011. The management of Withings was then ensured by two of its co-founders: Éric Carreel and Cédric Hutchings.

The objects benefit from the resources of the network which provides them with computing power and online storage. The interfaces of objects are also deported to more ergonomic devices, such as smartphones or touch pads, for example the iPhone, iPad, Android smartphones, or PCs. On April 26, 2016, the company announced its acquisition by Finnish Nokia for an amount of 170 million euros.

At the end of June 2017, Withings changed its name to Nokia Health following a previous announcement in November 2016 by interim president of Nokia Technologies Brad Rodrigues of the replacement of the Withings brand in 2017. At the beginning of May 2018, Nokia announced exclusive negotiations with Eric Careel for the resale of its Digital Health business.

At the end of May 2018, Éric Carreel, who co-founded Withings with Cédric Hutchings and Fred Potter, took over the connected health activities, while continuing to market the Nokia Health brand. According to its wishes, the Withings brand will be back in September 18 2018 with the launch of a new connected analog watch.

In April 2019, Withings relocated part of its activity to the Manufacture des Tabacs d’Issy-les-Moulineaux, in Hauts-de-Seine for the production of the Withings Move Personalized connected watch.

Products

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A Withings WS30 bathroom scale, with weather information.

Withings first developed a personal scale, published and marketed in France from June 2009. It is the first connected personal scale.

In September 2009, Withings extended its marketing to Europe and the United States. Withings thus offers a concrete application of the Internet of Things and ambient intelligence. Through a partnership policy, Withings interfaces its weighing person communicating with service providers including Google Health (permanently closed since January 1, 2013) and Microsoft HealthVault (closure announced for November 20, 2019). A new version of the Wi-Fi personal scale is available in March 2013. It measures weight and Body Mass Index, as well as body fat, heart rate and air quality.

The second object marketed according to the same criteria is the blood pressure monitor, launched in spring 2011 and then in a new wireless version, compatible with iOS and Android in January 2014.

The Smart Baby Monitor, dedicated to baby monitoring, was launched in Europe in November 2011 and then marketed in the rest of the world and in the United States from February 2012. The Smart Baby Scale, an evolving communicating scale for babies and children , is unveiled at CES Las Vegas 2012.

At CES in Las Vegas 2014, Withings unveils Aura, an intelligent system made up of a connected lamp and sensors that are placed under the mattress. Aura tracks sleep and improves its quality. It is marketed immediately after.

In April 2014, Withings launched Pulse Ox, an activity tracker that monitors activity, sleep, and comes with features such as measuring blood oxygen levels and heart rate.

Presented by Withings in September 2014 at IFA Berlin, Home is a connected video device that measures the quality of the environment.

Withings unveils the Activity watch on June 23, 2014, presented as the first connected timepiece, it is indeed the first connected analog (needle) watch34. Activity integrates activity tracking technologies and watch movements into a Swiss made watch. At CES in Las Vegas 2015, Withings announced the Activity Pop watch, a more accessible version of its connected watch.

In November 2015, Withings launched the Activity Steel watch in a black version, then in January 2016 in its white screen version.

At CES 2016, Withings unveils Go, an activity tracker with an electronic ink screen and Withings Thermo, a Wi-Fi temporal thermometer. The product wins the prize for the best monitoring of physical activity, coaching, sports practice for the 2016 Connected Object Trophy.

Launched in June 2016, Body Cardio is the first connected scale capable of evaluating arterial stiffness, thanks to the measurement of the speed of the pulse wave, which is an indicator of cardiovascular health. Body Cardio measures weight, Body Mass Index, body fat, muscle mass, water mass and bone mass.

Unveiled at IFA 2016, Steel HR is a connected analog watch that continuously measures heart rate during the day and during sleep. Its digital screen provides an overview of overall health data and displays smartphone notifications.

Sleep is a sleep sensor launched in 2018 that analyzes sleep cycles, and detects breathing disturbances in sleep.

In September 2018, Withings launched Steel HR Sport, the company’s first product after its takeover from Nokia, by its co-founder Eric Carreel. Steel HR Sport is a connected analog watch that offers multisport and sleep tracking, connected GPS and smartphone notifications, heart rate measurement and fitness assessment via estimation of VO2 max.

Launched in November 2018, Pulse HR is a waterproof, OLED-screen activity and sleep tracker that offers heart rate measurement, connected GPS and smartphone notifications.

At CES 2019, Withings unveils 3 new health-branded products. Move ECG, which is touted as the first analog watch capable of recording an EKG. This can be done on request, and would prevent cardiovascular disease at home. BPM Core, a connected blood pressure monitor which in addition to the classic functions of monitoring blood pressure and heart rate also allows you to carry out an electrocardiogram yourself, in order to detect atrial fibrillation. The BPM Core also has the electronic stethoscope function. Move ECG, an analog connected watch, allows you to perform an electrocardiogram yourself.

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