Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has moved to increase its foothold in the wearables segment by acquiring Beddit, a Finnish company that deals in making software and hardware for tracking and monitoring sleep. How much Apple acquired Beddit for was not disclosed. The acquisition first came to the public eye after Beddit alerted users about an update it had made to its privacy policy.

“Beddit has been acquired by Apple. Your personal data will be collected, used and disclosed in accordance with the Apple Privacy Policy,” stated the update.

Telltale signs

More effects of the acquisition include the fact that when visitors to the website of Beddit click on the buy button, they are redirected to the online store of Apple. Devices from the Finnish company are also not listed on the Amazon website anymore. Also, Beddit had lately been developing an app for the Android operating system but that specific detail has disappeared from its website.

One of Beddit’s products is a sensor strip that costs $150 and which can be slipped under bed sheets with the intention of collecting sleep-related information and then transmitting that information to an Apple mobile device for analysis. A Beddit app that accompanies the device can inform users about their quality of sleep with categories such as ‘awake’, ‘snoring’, and ‘restless sleep’ being viewable. The device can also transmit to an iPhone other biometric data such as heart rate.

Health tracking segment

The acquisition signals Apple’s ambitions and intentions to delve deeper into the health tracking business. It is understood that Apple has for a couple of years now been involved in efforts to introduce a sleep-tracking feature on the Apple Watch and the purchase will go a long way in helping in the achievement of that goal.

The acquisition also comes at a time when Fitbit which competes with Apple in the market for fitness devices recently unveiled additional sleep-tracking functionalities for its range of wearables. Besides the tracking of sleep, Apple is also planning to get into the tracking of snowboarding and skiing activity, according to various reports.

On Tuesday shares of Apple Inc rose by 0.62% to close the day at $153.96.