According to reports, people familiar with the matter disclosed that Alphabet’s Google company is expected to obtain approval from the EU antitrust agency to acquire fitness tracking device manufacturer Fitbit for $2.1 billion in order to compete with Apple and Samsung in the wearable technology market.
Google, the world’s most popular Internet search engine, again made concessions to the European Commission on Tuesday, in an attempt to eliminate concerns that the deal may consolidate Google’s online advertising strength and increase its data volume.
According to media reports, Google stated that it has proposed to restrict the use of Fitbit data for Google advertising and will strengthen monitoring of the process.
Google said in a statement: “We also promise to support other wearable device manufacturers on Android for a long time, and continue to allow Fitbit users to connect to third-party services through APIs (application programming interfaces),”
With the user’s consent, the third party can continue to access the data of the Fitbit user.
People familiar with the matter said the concessions made by Google will clear the way for the transaction to be approved.
The committee was originally scheduled to make a ruling on the transaction before December 23, but the committee may make a decision before the deadline. The committee declined to comment.
Before deciding whether to accept the concessions made by Google, the EU will solicit feedback from competitors and customers.
Fitbit used to be the leader in the wearable device market. According to data from the market research company International Data Corporation, as of the first quarter of 2020, its share of the global wearable device market was 3%, lagging behind Apple’s 29.3% share and Xiaomi, Samsung and Huawei.
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