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| Google is offering new deals to complete the Fitbit acquisition |
Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that Google is determined to buy Fitbit, the European Union manufacturer of fitness monitors, for $ 2.1 billion to compete with Apple and Samsung. In the wearable clothing market, thus gaining EU approval.
Today, Tuesday, the company that owns the most popular Internet search engine in the world provided more concessions to the European Commission. To allay concerns that this deal could boost Google's power in online advertising and add to its user data.
Google said: It has proposed limiting the use of Google ads data (Fitbit) and will intensify monitoring that process, confirming the Reuters report. The new offer is based on the July proposal.
Google said in a statement: "We officially reaffirm our long-standing commitment to support manufacturers of other Android devices and to continue to enable Fitbit users to connect to third-party services using APIs." Fitbit data users will continue to be accessed by third parties. With the consent of the user.
The source said: The concessions previously reported by Reuters will pave the way for approval of the deal.
this is; The European Commission is expected to vote on this deal on December 23.
The European Commission will now seek feedback from competitors and customers before deciding whether to accept Google concessions or request more requests.
Last month, the European Commission rejected Google's pledge not to use fitness tracker data for promotional purposes in order to address competition concerns, saying it was insufficient.
It's worth noting that Google's acquisition of Fitbit has sparked criticism from healthcare providers, wearable competitors, and privacy advocates.
According to research firm IDC, Fitbit was once the market leader in wearables and occupied 3% of the global wearable device market in the first quarter of 2020. It is followed by Apple (which has a 29.3% share) and others ( Like Xiaomi, Samsung, and Huawei).