Nest, which now belongs to Alphabet, is not operated directly by Google under the alphabet's 'Other Business' product category. Nest, a pioneer in the smart home industry, has developed thermostats and home security cameras. However, Amazon recently introduced A home security device competes with Nest.
The division of Nest and its 1,000 employees into Google names a strategic reorganization of Alphabet after Alphabet separated Google, its core Internet business, in a number of other divisions, including research laboratories and life sciences companies, When Nest was created in August 2015 under the name 'other business', Nest has its own head office, hiring processes, benefits and even launched its own brand bike for its employees.
At the time, Google CEO Larry Page said in an open letter that the key to forming Alphabet was to make its subsidiaries independent and develop their own brands.
However, according to former Nest staff, given the business overlap between the two divisions in areas such as manufacturing and retail distribution, it would not be reasonable to separate Nest from Google's hardware business. Both departments at once developed a similar software product using the same Name - Weave.
'The only thing that surprised me in the long run was potential consolidation measures,' says a former Nest manager who said, 'If we are from the same retailer in terms of sales and marketing,' 'he said.
For Google, narrowing its proximity to Nest will allow it to more closely integrate its services with Nest, which now competes with Amazon in the smart home market with its Google Home speakers behind Amazon's Echo system. The smoke detectors, as well as the security camera, are compatible with voice assistants from Google and Amazon.
Google bought Nest for $ 3.2bn in 2014, second only to Google's $ 12.5bn acquisition of Motorola in 2012. But since then Nest's new product release has slowed and lost its co-founder and co-founder last year CEO Tony Fadell.
Google has aggressively tapped into the hardware market with its Pixel smartphones, laptops, headsets and speakers in recent years, in line with its recent strategy of beefing up the hardware team Google hired last year's former chief executive Rick Ostrow Rick Osterloh leads the hardware team and acquired HTC's Pixel mobile team and 2,000 employees for $ 1.1 billion in September.
Google and Nest declined to comment.