Tile, a popular company focused on tracking devices is about to be acquired by another tracking company called “Life360.” Both companies announced a deal on Wednesday amid growing competition with Apple’s AirTag and other similar accessories.
According to the announcement (via The Verge), Tile is being acquired for $205 million and the purchase is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2022. Tile CEO CJ Prober will join the Life360 board of directors, while the company promises to keep the Tile brand as well as all its current employees.
For those unfamiliar, Life360 is a focused family tracking platform with features such as location history, favorite routes, personalized alerts, SOS messages, and more.
“Life360 is on a mission to simplify safety so families can live fully. With the acquisition of Tile, we will now be able to provide a unique and all-encompassing solution for finding the people, pets and things that families care about most,” said Chris Hulls, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Office of Life360.
Tile was founded in 2012 and it offers a variety of tracking devices that work similarly to AirTag. While Apple’s accessory is only available in one design, Tile has trackers that fit different types of use – like a really small “sticker” for remotes and a card-shaped tracker to be kept in a wallet.
However, even before Apple announced AirTag, Tile went to Congress to complain about how Apple was preventing other companies from providing the same integration that Apple accessories have with iOS devices. Apple later opened up its Find My network to third parties, but even so Tile complained about the company requiring such accessories to work exclusively through the Find My app.
Tile’s vice president Kirsten Daru told congress last year that companies “might be the best soccer team, but you’re playing against a team that owns the stadium, the ball, and the league, and can change the rules when it wants” in reference to Apple
With Apple’s AirTag available for just $29 and working with billions of iOS devices around the world, things have certainly gotten tougher for Tile – although the company says that its business is fine.
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