Nest is done as a standalone Alphabet company, merges with Google

(credit: Nest)

There's a shakeup at Nest today. Following previous rumors back in November, Google just announced Nest will no longer be a standalone Alphabet company; instead, it will merge with the Google hardware team. The current Nest CEO, Marwan Fawaz, will report to Google Hardware SVP Rick Osterloh.

Nest has struggled since it was purchased by Google/Alphabet in 2014. Under Google, Nest was given a huge influx of resources, which it used to quadruple its employee headcount and purchase Dropcam. But none of these extra resources resulted in new or improved products. Nest's CEO and co-founder, Tony Fadell, left the company two years after the acquisition, at which point Nest's only "new" product under Google was a rebranded Dropcam.

Once the current Nest CEO Marwan Fawaz took over, Nest finally started to push new products out the door. It launched the very expensive $300 Nest Cam IQ and the even more expensive Nest Secure home security system, which runs $500 for a starter pack. And their cost doesn't end there: both work best with a monthly subscription fee.

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