Nokia 'doesn't see a path forward' for its wearables and health tech

Nokia's connected health tech is in jeopardy
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Nokia has announced that it has initiated a 'review of strategic options for its Digital Health business', and it looks like it's bad news.

This review announced includes Nokia's consumer and enterprise products, which covers its hybrid smartwatches, smart scales and digital health services. While the announcement by Nokia suggests the review 'may or may not result in any transaction or other', things are clearly not going as planned and there's a possibility it could end up closing the doors on the division.

In the latest development, Nokia chief strategy officer Kathrin Buvac told employees that the company sees no future in its health tech business, as per a memo seen by The Verge.

Here's the key paragraph:

"In its entirety, our Digital Health business has struggled to scale and meet its growth expectations. Currently, we don't see a path for it to become a meaningful part of a company as large as Nokia. Thus, we are conducting a strategic review to determine the best next steps for the business. Once we know more about possible future steps, we will inform impacted employees, as well as engage employee representatives in line with local legal requirements and practice, where needed."

So it doesn't sound hopeful. Buvac added that the plan is for Nokia to move forward as a business-to-business and licensing company in telecoms and industrial automation. We've asked for clarification on what this will all mean for the company's latest products, the Nokia Steel HR and the yet-to-ship Nokia Sleep.

Read this: Where Nokia Health went wrong

It's only two years since Nokia acquired French startup Withings for $191 million to help make a bigger push into digital health. During that process it has been relaunching Withings' connected health devices with Nokia branding including the Nokia Steel HR, which launched in late 2017, and more recently the Nokia Sleep monitor, which replaced the Withings Aura.

Despite the leaked memo, the last word from Nokia was that any further announcements regarding its Digital Health business will be made when appropriate. If it does take the decision to scuttle its wearable business as part of the review - and that looks very likely at this point - it will certainly be a loss. Nokia's hybrid smartwatches are some of the best, and while its revamping of the Health Mate companion app is still very much a work in progress, it did look like it was set to evolve into a richer platform for tracking health and fitness.

We hope we're not pouring one out for Nokia's wearables when the review is complete, but the writing, it seems, is on the wall for another tech company's ambitions to become a major player in the world of digital health.

Nokia 'doesn't see a path forward' for its wearables and health tech



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Michael Sawh

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Michael Sawh has been covering the wearable tech industry since the very first Fitbit landed back in 2011. Previously the resident wearable tech expert at Trusted Reviews, he also marshaled the features section of T3.com.

He also regularly contributed to T3 magazine when they needed someone to talk about fitness trackers, running watches, headphones, tablets, and phones.

Michael writes for GQ, Wired, Coach Mag, Metro, MSN, BBC Focus, Stuff, TechRadar and has made several appearances on the BBC Travel Show to talk all things tech. 

Michael is a lover of all things sports and fitness-tech related, clocking up over 15 marathons and has put in serious hours in the pool all in the name of testing every fitness wearable going. Expect to see him with a minimum of two wearables at any given time.


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