A few years ago, Google acquired Nest for a few billion dollars in cash. Nest is now owned by Alphabet (Google’s parent), but has always operated as a separate business entity. This is still the case today, but Alphabet and Google seem ready to change that.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the search giant is considering a movement of Nest, to be incorporated into Google’s newly-formed hardware division led by Motorola hire, Rick Osterloh. Nest contains quite a few employees, and if this move were to result, they’d all be working in the same department as the ‘Made By Google‘ hardware team. You know, the one that makes the Pixel 2 phones, Google Home speakers, Pixelbook, Daydream View, Pixel Buds, and Google Clips.

The Wall Street Journal claims that this would allow the department to work more closely with Nest on innovation for the home. And so, Google’s hardware team, the one that makes all those great products, could soon be working in potentially the same offices as hundreds of current Nest employees. If this were to be the case, we’d expect only good things to result from the two divisions collaborating together on a day-to-day basis.

So what’s the bottom line? Well, if this joining were to happen, the Made By Google family may just gain a Nest entrant next year, or perhaps even sooner if the search giant feels rush from the competition. The move makes a lot of sense, since both teams share the common goal of selling products to help consumers more easily manage and control their home. However, this would likely mean goodbye to the Nest brand, at least for products the subsidiary makes in conjunction with Google’s. Personally, I’m hoping for better integration of Nest products within the Google ecosystem, how about you? Do you think Nest is the expansion Google’s new hardware division needs?

SOURCE [The Wall Street Journal]