Apple has been showing a lot of interest in healthcare technologies of late. They’ve even acquired a health startup called Glimpse which has been founded by two people of Indian origin.
When questioned about the acquisition, Apple responded in their typically aloof and secretive manner.
“Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans.”
Gliimpse’s website, on the other hand, is yet to announce the acquisition. This is a bit strange, if you ask me, because most startups would be thrilled at being acquired by a company like Apple. They should be out celebrating this event!
Founded in 2013 by Anil Sethi, Gliimpse was built on the idea of trying to make it “easier for individuals to collate and share their own health data in simple, easily shareable formats,” according to their Linkedin Page.
Healthcare technologies are deeply data-driven and need huge amounts of data to give satisfactory results. So this acquisition makes a lot of sense for Apple. Gliimpse is just one of the few health companies Apple has bought recently.
“Apple has acquired HealthKit, CareKit, and ResearchKit startups that allow patients, doctors and researchers to access important health and wellness data via a range of mobile devices.” – The Economic Times.
Apart from healthcare, the tech giant has also been pushing inroads into AI, taking great interest in technologies such as facial recognition. Apple has been quite vocal about it as well. To summarise and paraphrase Tim Cook’s views from numerous interviews recently, “AI is definitely the future.”
We are seeing a historical shift in Apple’s viewpoint. They are no longer the manufacturers of consumer electronics alone. Instead, they seem to be moving steadily towards the goal of creating everyday technology that simplifies life. More and more we get the idea that they’re focusing on Value Creation. That is Apple’s business today and will remain so for the foreseeable future.
[Update: Gliimpse’s website seems to have been taken down since the time of writing this article.]