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If Google really bought Motorola for the patents alone, we should expect massive layoffs as they wind down the phone manufacturing business. If, as many have s
by gamble 15y ago
If Google really bought Motorola for the patents alone, we should expect massive layoffs as they wind down the phone manufacturing business.
If, as many have speculated, Google actually wants to follow Apple into the integrated software/hardware market, then this is a bet-the-company decision that will either see Google mired in a failed merger on the scale of AOL/Time Warner, or if successful it will provide a growth engine for the next decade and badly-needed diversification.
I think it's pretty hard to look at this deal purely from a technical analysis perspective, since no one except a handful of senior staff at Google really know what the plan is.
- jdelsman 15y agoThis is true. The CEO of Motorola Mobility came on a conference call with us (here at Motorola in Beijing) and told us that they didn't really know much more than we did, and to stay tuned. They have told us to "refrain from gossip or speculation", as the deal is still very fresh and far from closed.
- enjo 15y agoIt wouldn't surprise me at all to see them spin Motorola right back out into a separate entity. It would actually make a lot of sense. Google gets their patents and a very cooperative manufacturer, without the worry of managing Motorola day-to-day. That $12B will be quickly absorbed.
- orky56 15y agoIf this new Motorola entity is separate from Google and without patents (since Google would have them), this new Motorola Mobility would no longer have any leverage for itself and could easily fall prey to future patent lawsuits.