2015 is gearing up to be an eventful year for wearable tech with Google’s acquisition of GoPro set to be one of the biggest stories.
That’s according to CCS Insight, who has just published its Predictions for 2015 and Beyond report.
“GoPro has excelled in the video and image capture market but is currently facing increased competition from new players and products,” reads the prediction.
“Google provides further investment and exploits GoPro’s brand, technical expertise and devoted users to advance Google Glass. It also invests in cloud storage and video processing services for GoPro owners.”
While somewhat far-fetched, we don’t think this takeover is pure fantasy – after all, the search giant has bought out 33 companies in 2014 already, spending over $5 billion in the process.
And while GoPro is already an established brand and would represent a huge investment for the Mountain View company, it’d be a drop in the ocean compared to the $12.5 billion that it spent on Motorola Mobility back in 2011. The action camera company went public earlier this year and, following the IPO, the company was valued at $2.95 billion – although its value has since skyrocketed.
CSS Insight’s report also forecast that a major sports equipment manufacturer would buy a big wearables company, and specifically stated that chip-giant Qualcomm would snap up Fitbit.
“A brand like Nike or Adidas purchases a headset or wearables company such as Fitbit, Jabra or Jawbone to expand its product range,” forecast the report.
“The move takes on greater significance as health and wellness functionality becomes pervasive in fitness bands, smartwatches, headsets and smart clothing.”
Fascinating stuff, we’re sure you’ll agree. We will, of course, be covering all the bigwearable tech news on our dedicated hub page, so bookmark that to stay up to date.