Clothing+, one of the pioneers of electronics garments, has been acquired by Jabil. Based in Finalnd, Clothing+ had headquarters in Kankaanpää, together with offices in Tampere and Shanghai. The Finnish part of the operation employed 40 people, while manufacturing in China employed a further 350 and had a turn-over of $11 million in 2014. It was probably the largest dedicated electronic garment making company. Jabil by contrast are a huge 180,000 person global company providing design and electronic manufacturing solutions. I guess this is a positive sign that Jabil see textile electronics as a growing area and one that they need to have in their skill set. It also gives Clothing+ the backing of a multinational company, both in terms of sales reach, but also creditability in terms of financial viability.
The photo at the head of the article is the Victoria Secret heart-rate bra developed by Clothing+
Source: Clothing+