It looks like Nokia’s purchase of Whitings is not doing wonders for their bottomline. Unlike their smartphone and feature phone business which is doing relatively well, the Digital Health part of the company seems to be a major fail. They have released a statement saying that they are now reviewing the Digital Health business portfolio which includes consumer and enterprise products and their entire ecosystem of hybrid smartwatches, scales, and digital health devices, both for consumers and also their enterprise partners.
While this is just a review of their strategic options as stated in their official statement, there is also the possibility that this will result in changes to the various businesses attached to it. Not included in the evaluation are the patent business, brand partnerships and technology licensing units in Nokia Technologies. After the internal review, they will be making the necessary announcements “if and when appropriate”.
Nokia acquired the Whitings brand back in 2016 which meant that all the products under had to eventually switch to the Nokia brand. Because of this purchase, Nokia gained manufacturing capabilities. However, the health devices front seemed to not be doing that well as evidenced by this latest development.
The fact that Nokia even had to make an announcement that they were reviewing their Digital Health business seems to be a warning that things may be coming to an end, at least for that particular part of their business. We’ll update you when they finally release something.
SOURCE: Nokia
