Roger Fingas
On Thursday, Sweden's Assa Abloy — one of the world's biggest lock manufacturers, owning several brands including Yale — announced plans to buy out August Home, best known for its Apple HomeKit-compatible Smart Lock.
The deal is pending government approval, but could close by the end of the year. Assa Abloy didn't mention the terms of the deal in a press release, but executive VP Thanasis Molokotos did say that it "strengthens our residential smart door strategy with complementary smart locks, expansion into video doorbells and comprehensive solutions for home delivery."
The last point is a likely a reference to a partnership between August and Walmart, which is testing a delivery service allowing drivers to drop a package off inside someone's home, even their fridge or freezer, instead of just on the doorstep. The Smart Lock supports one-time access codes, and the company's Doorbell Cam can capture photos and video of people as they enter.
According to TechCrunch, Jason Johnson will remain CEO of August, which will also continue to operate under its own brand.
The acquisition could boost August's financial stability improve distribution of its products. There could also be cross-pollination of technologies — recently, Yale announced HomeKit support by way of an add-on module.
August is one of the earliest and most popular lock makers to support HomeKit, though buyers currently have to pick the $279 Smart Lock Pro for that functionality. The Doorbell Cam will gain HomeKit support in a later update.
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3 Comments
I kinda wish Apple will get into making HomeKit accessories/hardware themselves instead of relying heavily on others. Good HomeKit hardware has been sooooo slooooowww to come to market.
bodes well for future products, August afaik, only offers a deadbolt lock solution. Assa Abloy's Yale brand has smart locks for night latches and multi-point locks so seems like a good match.