Nest folded into Google's hardware team

Google and Nest have jointly announced that the Nest team will be integrated into the Google Hardware division reporting to Google SVP Rick Osterloh. First acquired by Google in 2014 for US$3.2 billion, the company has been operating as a subsidiary of Alphabet for the past three years. The move will mean that future Nest products will now come with Google’s “Made by Google” branding.

Osterloh had this to say about the restructure:

We're excited to bring the Nest and Google Hardware teams together. The goal is to supercharge Nest’s mission: to create a more thoughtful home, one that takes care of the people inside it and the world around it. By working together, we’ll continue to combine hardware, software and services to create a home that’s safer, friendlier to the environment, smarter and even helps you save money—built with Google’s artificial intelligence and the Assistant at the core.

Nest, which was co-founded by “Father of the iPod” Tony Fadell, is most well-known for its learning thermostat that has been popular with early adopters of smart home technology. Fadell subsequently left the company after a falling out with Google management over his management style. Nonetheless, Nest has gone on to sell 11 million devices from its expanded portfolio. The integration of Nest into Google’s hardware team comes just the week after Google welcomed a number of former HTC employees into its hardware division.

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