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Google not buying sun was huge mistake.at least they could sell it after keeping java.something like what they did with Motorola. They kept all patent's. They c

by 0xFFC 11y ago

Google not buying sun was huge mistake.at least they could sell it after keeping java.something like what they did with Motorola. They kept all patent's. They could have done the same with java.

protomyth 11y ago
Consider Google bought Motorola for $12.5B[1] and Oracle bought Sun for $5.6 billion[2], I would think Google buying Sun would have been a better deal than buying Motorola. 1) http://bgr.com/2014/02/13/google-motorola-sale-interview-lenovo/ http://bgr.com/2014/02/13/google-motorola-sale-interview-len... 2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_acquisition_by_Oracle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_acquisition_by_Oracle
- bitmapbrother 11y ago
  Perhaps, but it's not like Google lost much by buying Motorola. "I think the Motorola transaction has been a success for us. Financially, we bought the asset for $12.5 billion. It had $3 billion in cash; we were able to sell the Home division for $2.5 billion; we ended selling the handset division for $3 billion. There were some other tax assets as well. When you work through the math, you realize we spent between $2.5 billion and $3.5 billion for the patent assets. At the time, the nearest comparable transaction was the Nortel patent auction where Microsoft and Apple teamed up to buy that asset for $4.5 billion. And there’s a good argument that the Motorola patent portfolio is a better portfolio."
  - robotresearcher 11y ago
    Nice informative quote is missing an attribution. Google finds it in an interview in Forbes with Dan Harrison, Google's head of M&A.
spinchange 11y ago
Motorola was threatening to start suing other Android ODMs which would have wrought havoc from within the ecosystem. IIRC, Sun was a lot more forgiving and basically willing to look the other way at Google playing fast & loose with Java stuff. It was not yet in the offing that a) Sun was for sale, or b) Oracle would be the one to buy them within 2-3 years almost exclusively to bludgeon Google with the IP. In hindsight, it would have made all the sense in the world. Back then, I don't think it was clear it would be necessary and would have surprised people in a negative way probably ("Google's going to sell SPARC servers, now?" -- remember IP was not the stated reason for buying Motorola even if it's obvious that is what it was about now - at the time Google claimed to want to make devices). Connecting the dots forward is hard.
- protomyth 11y ago
  Sun specifically approached IBM for merger talks, I have a hard time believing they were that secret given Oracle's actions. Looking at the threats, Sun under more litigious hands probably was more of a threat than Motorola.

by 0xFFC 11y ago

Google not buying sun was huge mistake.at least they could sell it after keeping java.something like what they did with Motorola. They kept all patent's. They could have done the same with java.

protomyth 11y ago

Consider Google bought Motorola for $12.5B[1] and Oracle bought Sun for $5.6 billion[2], I would think Google buying Sun would have been a better deal than buying Motorola. 1) http://bgr.com/2014/02/13/google-motorola-sale-interview-lenovo/ http://bgr.com/2014/02/13/google-motorola-sale-interview-len... 2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_acquisition_by_Oracle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_acquisition_by_Oracle

bitmapbrother 11y ago
Perhaps, but it's not like Google lost much by buying Motorola. "I think the Motorola transaction has been a success for us. Financially, we bought the asset for $12.5 billion. It had $3 billion in cash; we were able to sell the Home division for $2.5 billion; we ended selling the handset division for $3 billion. There were some other tax assets as well. When you work through the math, you realize we spent between $2.5 billion and $3.5 billion for the patent assets. At the time, the nearest comparable transaction was the Nortel patent auction where Microsoft and Apple teamed up to buy that asset for $4.5 billion. And there’s a good argument that the Motorola patent portfolio is a better portfolio."
- robotresearcher 11y ago
  Nice informative quote is missing an attribution. Google finds it in an interview in Forbes with Dan Harrison, Google's head of M&A.

spinchange 11y ago

Motorola was threatening to start suing other Android ODMs which would have wrought havoc from within the ecosystem. IIRC, Sun was a lot more forgiving and basically willing to look the other way at Google playing fast & loose with Java stuff. It was not yet in the offing that a) Sun was for sale, or b) Oracle would be the one to buy them within 2-3 years almost exclusively to bludgeon Google with the IP. In hindsight, it would have made all the sense in the world. Back then, I don't think it was clear it would be necessary and would have surprised people in a negative way probably ("Google's going to sell SPARC servers, now?" -- remember IP was not the stated reason for buying Motorola even if it's obvious that is what it was about now - at the time Google claimed to want to make devices). Connecting the dots forward is hard.

protomyth 11y ago
Sun specifically approached IBM for merger talks, I have a hard time believing they were that secret given Oracle's actions. Looking at the threats, Sun under more litigious hands probably was more of a threat than Motorola.